Meeting Sirius Black
by Mari605i
Summary: We always end up falling for the one person we're not supposed to, don't we? In my case, I sorta fell for Sirius Black - an arrogant womanizer, who also happened to be my best friend's best friend. Family secrets, crushes that really shouldn't be and a rising darkness just made life at Hogwarts a lot tougher. And then there's still potions with Slughorn - yuck!
1. Bad First Impressions

**Hi! So this is my first HP-fanfic ever… I hope you'll like it though ;)**

**Read & Review

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I danced around my room, grabbing all the necessary stuff and throwing them into the huge trunk at the end of my bed, while the beat of my favorite song was flowing through the speakers located at the huge window, through which the surrounding fields could be seen, and a single lonely house in which my best friend lived, who I hadn't seen all summer because he was at some friends house.

Spellbook after spellbook hit the bottom of the trunk, followed by armfuls of quills, ink bottles and parchment. I didn't care to fold the newly bought schoolrobes either, and they simply joined the rest of the mess inside the trunk without much thought.

Normally, I would have been a bit more careful packing (I won't promise anything though!), but I was already running late, and wouldn't it just be splendid if I missed the train on my first day at Hogwarts? Yeah, I didn't think so either.

But even though I was in a hurry, I simply couldn't resist singing along to my favorite part of the song playing. Jumping up onto the bed, which was facing the window, I grabbed my hairbrush that somehow had gotten under my pillow, and began singing;

"'So you think you stone me and spit me in the eye.

So you think you can love me and leave me to die.

Oh baby, can't do this to me baby.-" I started jumping a bit while spinning around, watching my room as it became blurred; the yellow-painted walls, the many posters of mugglebands and-musicians, the tall figure in the doorway, the chaotic mass of cloths spread everywh- what! The tall figure in the doorway?

"'Just gotta get out, just gotta ge-'" I stopped spinning and jumping, before slowly turning myself to face this figure. I screamed in delight at the sight that met me, while the song kept playing in the background.

"Remus!" I dropped the hairbrush and jumped down at him, while throwing my arms round his neck. His chuckles send vibrations through my whole being as he hugged me, "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too, Hayley." He replied, letting go of me. I looked him over.

He seemed to be in a good state, even though he still had the same shabbiness, which I'd grown accustomed to through our many years of friendship. He had always seemed much matured for his own age, having some kind of knowledge about life that none could really comprehend, which often made him seem reserved and grave. His face bore the scars from claws that once for so many years ago had ripped themselves across it in a brutal fashion. But even though they were old, they still hadn't disappeared and –as I knew- never would. They were after all cursed wounds, although he had never confided in me the exact way he'd gotten them. He'd just said that they didn't hurt and that it was nothing I should worry about.

This boy who so often seemed to be an outsider was my best friend. I enjoyed the humored expression on his face from my little 'performance', appreciating how it made him look younger and how his face lightened up. Beyond that, you also simply couldn't deny the fact that he looked quite handsome, even when dressed as simply as then in a white button-up and jeans.

"How far are you with packing your trunk?" he asked while eyeing the chaos behind me with a small smile. He had clearly expected it, which meant he clearly knew me too well.

"'Nothing really matters to me.'" I sang as the exact same sentence was being sung by the male leadsinger of the muggleband, which was still playing loudly from the speakers.

"Oh, I think it would matter to you if you missed the train and with it your seventh and last year in school."

I frowned in dislike. He could be such a know-it-all at times.

"But I don't wanna go to Hogwarts!" I whined while pouting at him. He merely laughed.

"I know, Hales. But your mom insists. It's safer there and besides; it's actually quite nice at Hogwarts."

I knew I couldn't win this. It was a lost battle that I'd already fought to many times over the summer with my mother. As to change the subject I grabbed a hairband that had gone stray from the others around my wrist, and tied my long dark curls into a ponytail.

"Your hair has grown a lot," he noted.

"Yeah, hair tend to do that," I smiled teasingly, to which he responded by rolling his eyes.

"Now, could you perhaps help me packing?"

"Of course," he answered after a short thoughtful pause.

…

After packing the trunk to its fullest extent (I'm completely convinced that it would burst if just one extra sock had been in it!) we left for Kings Cross Station. I had already said my goodbyes to my dear parents, who had left for India a few days earlier where my father, who's a muggle, had to do something job-related, so it had just been my grandmother and I since. Of course the goodbye became rather… ehm… yeah, let's just say I hadn't really expected her to begin crying, while telling me how much I've grown through the years (Big chock! Note the sarcasm). By the way; if you have embarrassing baby photos of yourself: destroy them! She had to show Remus all the ones where I –of course- was covered in food (I wasn't that good at getting it _into_ my mouth, okay?), crying because _someone_ *Cough* Remus *Cough* had to leave my birthday party too early in my opinion and so forth. Oh, I almost forgot to mention her constant bickering about how she's looking forward to our wedding. Yes, 'our' as in 'Remus and I'. She had always had this dream about us getting married one day ever since we became best friends. But as stated earlier; we're best _friends_. Not lovers or _anything_ else. Except being best friends of course.

Anywaaaaayy;

Remus' mom and dad had volunteered to drive us, so my grandmother was spared. Thank goodness.

When we arrived at Kings Cross station we heaved our trunks out of the cars magically extended one. We said goodbye to them in a hurry, since my grandmother only had delayed us furtherer.

Remus had told me hundredths of times how to get through to platform 9 3/4, so without considering if I was doing it right I closed my eyes and ran into the wall between platform 9 and 10 with the trolley that held my trunk. Nothing happened. No crash. No sensation of feeling ice being poured over me (Don't ask why I even thought that may happen!). It felt as if I had walked right past the wall. In sudden fear that I might have missed it by turning direction unknowingly while running with closed eyes, I opened them quickly to see what had happened. I was standing in a chattering crowd consisting of boys and girls and their parents, all standing in front of a large red steam engine. A sign above me read _Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. _I had made it. Soon Remus followed behind.

We pushed our trolleys to the train and loaded our trunks into an empty compartment, were we talked about our summers. Minutes later a tall boy with untidy jet-black hair, walked by our compartment. He just looked at us shortly, apparently searching for someone, before turning his head back to the hall. Suddenly he froze though. He turned his head to us again, and studied my face a few seconds with his brown eyes, which was framed by a pair of round classes, before settling themselves on Remus. Instantly a smile spread over his features, and he ripped the door open exclaiming "Moony!"

Remus looked up at the stranger who had addressed him with the odd nickname, breaking into a smile. He stood up and the boys 'man-hugged' (I just thinks it sounds a bit weird when you're talking about two guys 'hugging' therefore 'man-hugging').

"It's good to see you, Prongs," Remus replied when they broke apart.

"Who's this?" The stranger nodded towards me.

"Oh, yeah… This is Hayley Thorne, a new student and my oldest friend."

"Older than us even?" The boy's eyebrows were raised as he stared wonderingly at me.

"Older then you, yes. Hayley this is James Potter also known as Prongs, he's also one of my best friends." I stood up and shook hands with James, while he shot me a kind smile, which I couldn't resist returning.

"Where's Padfoot?" Remus asked looking towards the empty compartment door.

"He had to talk to 'someone'" both guys rolled their eyes.

"What do you mean 'someone'?" I asked.

"When Padf- sorry it's his nickname. His real name is Sirius, and when Sirius says 'someone' it clearly means he's off to flirt with some girl," Remus explained.

"They love him, you see," James added with a smirk.

"And he loves them,"

"Sounds like a good match," I simply replied, slightly scarred by the two smirking boys before me.

I really wasn't used to seeing Remus liked that, but somehow it suited him. He seemed happy.

"Can I join you two in here?" James asked afterwards, looking mostly at me.

"Sure," I answered earning a smile from Remus. He had probably feared this all summer; how would his oldest friend (that's me) react on his other friends that he had lived with for the past 6 years and the other way around, too of course. But so far I had to admit that I liked his friends, even though I hadn't met this Sirius they kept mentioning in their tales from earlier years at Hogwarts or from the summer, which they had been spending together at James' parents' house.

James lifted two huge trunks inside the compartment, and placed them alongside ours on the luggage rack. When I asked about why he had two trunks Remus replied that only one was James' and the other surely belonged to Sirius, to which James nodded.

The train began rolling and parents were running along with it winking their children off and yelling goodbyes to them. Shortly after we had rolled out of Kings Cross station, we became surrounded by fields. Everywhere you looked green grass stretched itself into the horizon to meet with the clear blue sky, which had only a limited amount of clouds at that day, leaving the sky to the sun, which was shining brightly at its highest peak.

We were talking about everything between heaven and earth, though mostly about the pranks they had pulled off through the years and of course; quidditch. Sadly, I didn't really understand a lot of it since I had never witnessed a game of it in my life. The only thing I could understand was that it took place on flying brooms and that a lot of different balls were involved.

Suddenly a girl appeared in the doorway. Her long fiery red hair was braided sideways so it hung over her left shoulder. She'd already changed into schoolrobes and her green eyes had fixed themselves on James –ignoring Remus and myself- with a furious look.

"Potter!" she began while pointing her finger accusingly at the poor fellow and I felt myself cringe at her tone, "How did you end up as Head boy? It's completely mental!"

"Well, tell that to Dumbeldore, and you can tell him that I don't want the job, too, while you're there."

This seemed to catch her off-guard.

"Y-you don't?" she stuttered unsure whether she should believe him or not.

"Of course I don't! I'll have to be _responsible,_" he said the word as if it were the thing he feared most, which it perhaps even was, "but at least the job has a bright side, too."

"Which is?"

"I'll get to spend a lot of time with you, my Lily-flower. Before this year is over you'll have agreed to go out with me. Wait and see," he grinned at her.

"You wish!" She exclaimed her furiousness from earlier blazing up again, though she still blushed madly.

"Oh, I do!" He laughed.

"I would never _ever _agree to go out with you, Potter! You're such a bullying toerag who thinks he can do whatever he wants!"

"And this, Hayley, is Gryffindors lovebirds." I looked up at Remus as he addressed me, while waving his hand towards the couple.

"I… We're not… absolutely… _not_… Remus!" Suddenly noticing us her blush deepened. She turned towards me, hand outstretched, "Lily Evans and I'm ehm… sorry about that."

"No problem," I smiled and shook her hand; "I'm Hayley Thorne."

"You're a new student, right?" I nodded as she took the vacant seat beside me, "Where are you transferring from?"

"I was home-schooled. My mom –she's the witch in our family- used to be a teacher at Charm School in London before my dad got a job that demanded we constantly moved around the world, and they didn't like the thought of being stuck in Brasilia, if something happened to me back here."

"Why are you then taking your seventh year at Hogwarts?" James suddenly asked; Lily nodded in agreement with the question.

"Well, my mom and dad thought it would be better; safer. You know with the death eaters and such," again Lily nodded but her face had lost a bit of its color it seemed, "anyway. I've always spend my summers at my grandmothers, who happens to me a neighbor to the Lupins. They thought it would be best if I started at Hogwarts joining my best friend, Remus."

"Well, I'm sure we'll become good friends," Lily smiled though still a little pale, before turning to Remus and James, who were sitting in the seats facing ours, "There's a prefect meeting in one of the compartments by the way. Yes, Potter, you have to participate," she added sternly seeing that he was about to protest, and then added in a sweeter tone"Remus you're also required."

They excused themselves and quickly hurried down the hall, leaving me alone.

I leaned my forehead against the window looking out at the surroundings that had changed from green fields to mountains with snowy tips, the evening sun turning everything orange and red. The soothing rattle of the train underneath slowly began lulling me into sleep, and it almost succeeded in doing so, but suddenly the compartment door was opened.

"See you later, Sweetheart!" a voice yelled down the hall, before closing the compartment door again, "Well, hello, Beautiful." He said sitting down next to me in the same seat Lily had used earlier.

I opened my eyes, which had almost closed themselves mere seconds before he had entered, and sat up strait to see a tall boy sitting next to me, the same age as I. He had dark hair that was styled in a windswept but natural way and amazingly grey eyes. He was drop-dead gorgeous to be honest, but clearly also a Casanova noting how fast he had changed his attention from his 'sweetheart' to the 'beautiful', which apparently was me. Way to go; compliments.

"You must be Sirius," I simply stated.

"You've already heard of me? How wonderful! Only good things, I hope" he shot me a charming smile.

"Well, let's just say that they can be viewed differently," I said, smiling a bit myself. Why was I smiling?

"Who was your 'sweetheart'?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He seemed as off-guard as Lily earlier with James. I fought the temptation to smile in victory, because I was pretty sure that Sirius was a person who rarely was caught off-guard about anything.

"Just some girl who fancies me," he said with the tone of someone who didn't care at all about the chosen object. Seeing he was so popular amongst my gender, he probably didn't, because he freely could choose whichever girl he wanted and then dump her, knowing that others gladly would take her place.

I really didn't like this guy so far.

"Some girl you fancy, too?" I asked.

"Not as much as I fancy you, Beautiful" he said while once again smiling one of those charmingly smiles of his.

"Well, since you 'fancy' me so much, how come you haven't asked what my name is? Who I am? Or anything else relating to those," I smirked, "and besides; You're not my type."

He gasped as if someone had kicked him in the gut, his eyes widening.

"Not you're type?" he snapped, "who says I give a damn about me being your type. You're not _my _type! And besides; I'm everybody's type."

"Apparently not. And hey, you said that you 'fancied' me more than 'sweetheart', so I must be your type!"

"Oh, don't think you're anything special now!"

"Who said I feel special in anyway?"

And as our argument got more heated for every retort uttered, I quietly noticed the way he was looking at me as it changed from one of irritation and fury to an more interested one, like a scientist eyeing his newest discovery wondering what it perhaps would do to help change the world.

Suddenly a knock sounded and both of us turned sharply towards the compartment door, where James was standing with Remus at his shoulder, the latter seemed to be feeling ill. He opened the door an inch.

"Can we come in or are we going to be killed if we do so," he asked with a humored expression.

"'Course," we muttered quietly, embarrassed by the sudden interruption.

Both boys entered our compartment and took their previous seats.

"Sirius this is my best friend Hayley Thorne. She's a new student," Remus said with a weak smile, "and this, Hayley, is Sirius Black another one of my best friends."

Unlike James she didn't shook hands with Sirius and he didn't offer it either. They both just kept staring in their own directions, sometimes engaging one or both of the others in conversations, though never at the same time. This game kept itself playing for the rest of the trip, just like Remus' ill-looking expression, but whenever asked he said it was nothing, though both Sirius and James sent him worried and questioning looks, which he simply ignored.

As Sirius started a debate about how they best would beat Slytherin in this year's quidditch match I decided to space out, and leaned my head against the cold glass of the window. Darkness had fallen and nothing could be seen now, except the distant lights of cars and small villages.

Then Lily appeared once more in the doorframe.

"We're going to be at Hogwarts in 15 minutes. You better change now." She simply said, before turning on her heel leaving as quickly as she had come.

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**A/N: Hello again! So what did you think… Too long? Too stupid? Should Peter be in it? (I HATE HIM! But anything for you ;P) Tell me, please, in a review ;) The song used in the beginning is "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen (All rights belongs to them)… See ya!**

**-Marie**


	2. Getting Sorted

**Hi! Thanks for the lovely reviews, guys! And also, thanks to you who've put the story on their alert list! So here's the new chapter… it's shorter than the last, simply because it's a mostly a filler… Hope you'll enjoy it though ;)**

**Read & Review!**

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We quickly changed into our schoolrobes, and I could feel him looking at me as we did so (Yuck, a pervert!). But it didn't stop once we had changed. Oh, no. He _kept _starring at me, and continued in doing so even when caught in it;

"Are you trying to eat her with your eyes or what, Padfoot?" James grinned though sending Sirius an interested look.

"Yes, I would like to know that, too. I feel like I'm being sexually harassed at the moment," I exclaimed annoyed, earning a bark of laughter from James.

I turned to face, Remus, who simply smiled tiredly at me. All color seemed to had been washed out of him, and I noticed how he sometimes would wince as if he were in pain. He seemed to be feeling really ill.

Lily had been right about the arrival time. 15 minutes later (Precisely!) we got out of the train, heaving our trunks along. Once outside we stabled them among all the others who had been left outside to be taken to the castle.

It was a magnificent sight. The darkness was overwhelming, since it was the day of the new moon, and the only light came from Hogwarts itself and many small lanterns, placed with regular distances between each other, following a dirt road all the way up to the castle. The castle was stationed overhead on a mountainside or it looked like one anyway, though it was hard to make out, with only the dim lights from its many windows as help.

James was soon being kidnapped by Lily who had just used the words "Move, Potter!" before engaging him in some Head Boy duties. Remus left, too, saying that he had to help supervising the students out of the train since he was a prefect. That only left Sirius and me… Oh, boy.

"I think I've made a bad first impression," he suddenly stated, breaking the awkward silence.

"You think?" I looked as the student-filled coaches began rolling up towards the castle, apparently without anything but the air dragging them forth.

"Let me fix it," he stuck his hand out in front of him, "My name is Sirius Black."

"Hayley Thorne," I introduced and shook his outstretched hand.

"So you're the new student, huh?" he asked.

"Yes," I smiled.

We started small-talking about why I had transferred and how cool Hogwarts apparently were while we slowly walked towards the coaches, where students were lining up into queues. Lastly only two coaches were left; one of them almost already filled, only offering two free seats. He offered me his hand;

"You know; you're not even that bad," I accepted his hand, and got in first, "But I still don't like you a lot. LILY! THERE'S AN EMPTY SEAT IN HERE!"

He simply gawped at me as Lily ran up to him, and jumped inside the coach.

"See you at the castle, Black." I called to him as we started rolling towards it.

…

"She'll be the end of me. I'm completely positive," I muttered to myself as I saw her driving away with Lily instead of me.

Hayley Thorne meant trouble. I didn't know how yet, but she surely meant trouble. Ever since I'd seen her earlier that day, sitting all alone in that compartment, she'd fascinated me. Something about her seemed different from many other girls (Who all worshipped me, by the way), even though I –again- didn't know what it was. But I was determined to find out.

I was joined a few minutes later by James and Remus, who both were in deep conversation, with Peter trailing their every step.

"Hey guys! What are you talking about?" I asked curiously as we entered the last coach together.

"Just whether Lily was looking at Prongs through our prefect meeting," Remus informed me as the coach began rolling swiftly towards the castle.

"Which she did," James concluded happily, "and also about why you and Hayley got so loud back on the train."

"We didn't get 'loud'," I said defiantly.

"Oh, you did. You scared the Trolley Witch away, so loud were you," James laughed.

"And mind you; I haven't seen Hayley that mad since Billy Thompson threw pudding at her in kindergarten," Remus smiled weakly.

He still looked quite ill, and I couldn't help but ask myself if it was related to his 'furry little problem', though the full moon still was lots of days away.

"She's insane," I exclaimed, though quickly added, "sorry, Remus."

"No need to apologize, Padfoot,"

"Well, we were just… talking," I quickly said, not mentioning the actual reason as to why we'd argued, not knowing how they would handle the truth, "and she just went mad."

"How can it be that I don't really believe you?" asked James arching his brow.

"You didn't flirt with her, did you?" Remus asked quietly.

"Of course I didn't!" my voice became slightly high-pinched as I told the lie.

Both my friends turned towards each other with the words "He did". They knew me _too _well.

"Tell us the truth, Padfoot," James demanded with his constant humored expression clearer than ever. How I hated that look (At least when pointed towards me!).

"I am!"

"Not!"

"Okay!" I surrendered, knowing that sooner or later they would probably guess it (or actually; already had guessed it), "I-"

At that moment the coach stopped and Lily came running towards us.

"Where were you? We're only waiting for you!" she said once she had reached us, hitting James on the arm.

"Wha- ouch! What did _I _do?" he asked offended.

"You're Head Boy! You're supposed to be a _good _example, not a bad one. And besides Remus looks too ill to be hit," and from that point she started fussing over the ill looking Remus (To James' great dislike) and continued in doing so until we had taken our seats at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Where's Hayley?" Remus suddenly asked, worry clearly noticeable in his voice, because Hayley was nowhere to be seen.

"McGonagall caught hold of us before we entered the Great Hall. Said that she needed to get sorted first, but-"Lily was interrupted as professor McGonagall entered the hall with the first-years trailing behind her.

The hall quickly fell quiet, as we looked at the new first-years, who were all trembling and looking around fearfully; Except the last one though, who was about a head higher than any of the others, and pretty… ehm… _matured _for a girl who was about to begin her first year at Hogwarts. It was only when she walked right passed me that I became aware of the long dark curls, that ended just below her shoulder blades, and which had been released from its messy ponytail. And of course; her kind brown eyes, framed with those long dark lashes. It was Hayley on her way to get sorted.

I tried to restrain from laughing out loud, but didn't succeed in doing so. She shot me a death glare, as I pretended to have a coughing fit to mask my laughter.

McGonagall leaded the queue of first-years (and Hayley) up to the teachers table at the front of the hall, and turned them to face us. She placed the four-legged chair in front of them and perched the hat on top of it. The hat twitched and at last it opened the rip near its brim and began to sing;

(A/N: This is the same song as used in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone… All rights belongs to J.K. Rowling – Both the song, the characters and anything else related to the Harry Potter universe… I only own this plot and Hayley since I've created both myself ;P Well, I'll let you continue now)

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me._

You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

We all applauded as the Sorting Hat had finished its song. Professor McGonagall stepped forwards with a long roll of parchment in her hands.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

And so she began calling the names. Student for student tried the hat and got sorted; one to Ravenclaw, two to Hufflepuff, one to Slytherin, another Ravenclaw, one to Gryffindor, and so it continued.

Lastly only two students were left, one of them was Hayley, the other one a young boy half her height with light hair and freckles.

"Spalding, Spencer," McGonagall called.

The boy slowly went towards the stool and sat upon it. He trembled worse than any of those before him had. Ten seconds later the hat had made its decision;

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table cheered loudly, as the boy broke into a smile and in his hurry to flee the Great Hall's attention nearly tripped over his own feet, earning great laughter from the Slytherin table.

"Quit, please," McGonagall demanded and the laughter slowly died away.

"Thorne, Hayley."

Hayley stepped forward and moved swiftly towards the stool. She sat down and tried the hat on. I felt my breath get caught in the back of my throat as I awaited the result. Minutes passed (or it felt like so anyway), before the Sorting Hat took a deep breath, upon calling it aloud and clearly;

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I sighed in relief. Wait, what?

…

I slowly pulled the hat off and walked over to join my fellow Gryffindors while they applauded. I couldn't deny that I was beyond happy. I had been sorted into Gryffindor, the same house as Remus, Lily, James and -of course- Sirius. I took a seat beside Lily and Remus, as a man with a crooked nose, long silvery hair and beard and half-moon spectacles stood up. I recognized him as Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, just as he began to speak;

"Welcome!" he smiled at us, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! May it be filled with laughter and wisdom. And now, without further words;" he simply sat down again, without finishing his sentence.

Everybody around me started clapping, and I quickly joined, though I didn't know what we were applauding. But then it surfaced; hundreds of the most delicious dishes appeared, and people started filling their plates eagerly.

"You know, Remus; I think I already like this place," I smiled at him as I started grabbing all different kinds of food.

"I know you would," he simply winked.

A/N: Hi… again! So what did you think? I had a bit of Sirius' POV in it, simply because I didn't feel that it would be necessary to describe whole Hogwarts to you, as I probably would have had to do if writing in Hayley's POV… Did you enjoy it? Or should I just stick to Hayley's POV? Tell me in a review! ;D

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**P.S. Sorry for using the same song as in the first Harry Potter book… I know the hat only sings a song once, and never EVER repeat it… BUT I'm really lousy at rhyming so you'll just have to bear with me, please ;)**

**By the way; I'm actually considering getting a Beta, though I haven't really decided on it yet… just to test my ideas on them first, and also so my grammar won't suck that much ;P You're of course also welcome to propose ideas for this story :D Credit will of course go to you ;P… Just thought I would let you know… anyway; See ya!**

**-Marie**


	3. Love In The Dormitories

**Hi again! Thanks for the reviews! It's great to post your story, and in less than an hour you've already gotten four reviews… I'm used to about two in one _day_! You amaze me ;) It's great encouragement and I appreciate it a lot… but anywaaayy; here's the next chapter… It's the last 'introducing'-chapter, and after this one, the story will take flight… ;D**

**Read & Review!**

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I let myself fall, face first, down onto the bed, ignoring the nauseating tingle in my stomach, as I did so.

"I don't feel so well," I groaned.

"Well, of course you don't. You ate more than James and Sirius together! And I thought those two could eat lot…" Lily answered me from the bed beside mine, her tone reminding me of a mother talking soothing (but amused!) words to her child in an attempt to comfort it.

"But how could you _not _eat a lot? Didn't you see all those delicious dishes?" My stomach growled as the image of the Great Halls long tables, came to mind again, decked with all kinds of the most mouthwatering and fantastical flavored food you'd ever seen or tasted.

"Sure I did, but I didn't feel like eating half of it."

"Lucky you," I mumbled into my pillow, her following soft laughter muffled by it.

The door to our dormitory creaked open and light footsteps could be heard walking across the room to where I laid. Lazily, I turned round and faced the stranger, who had taken a seat at the facing bed. She had a kind round face with short dark hair and also seemed to be rather short; shorter than I was, anyway. She smiled at me.

"Hello. I'm Alice," she introduced.

"Hi, I'm Hayley Thorne."

"How was your summer, Alice?" Lily asked curiously.

"It was fine. We spend some of it in France," she answered brightly.

"That sounds lik-" Lily was interrupted by the creaking of the door, as it once more opened. A girl with blond hair ending shortly above the shoulders had entered. Her eyes set in a mysterious but at the same time amused look, their color the same as the ocean when in uproar a dark and stormy night. She beamed at us;

"Oh my God, I swear I just saw Peter Pettigrew hitting on a 5th year!"

We, who in this case were Lily, Alice and I, exchanged confused looks. Blondie just stared at us as if not understanding _how _we could be missing the point of her genial joke.

"You're no fun!" she exclaimed slightly annoyed by this fact, sitting down upon the bed facing Lily's, before spotting me. "You're the new student!"

"Yeah, I'm Hay-"

"Is is true that you ate more than Hot and Hotter?"

"Wha-… Excuse me? Who?"

"James Potter and Sirius Black," she sighed rolling her eyes.

"Oh. I don't kno-"

"You could just use their actual names, you know, Charlotte," Lily interrupted me. She blushed slightly, though with somewhat of an annoyed expression visible on her features. Blondie –Charlotte- snorted.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I completely forgot it, Lily,"

"What?"

"That you and James practically already are married," she smiled while examining her fingernails, which wore a coat of red nail polish.

"I… we do… absolutely… _not_..." she stammered, getting as flustered as she had back on the train, when Remus had indicated the same thing.

"Well, if that really is true; can I have him then?"

"_WHAT?_ " Lily almost screeched.

"Well, doesn't it seem weird not to make a move, if he's available?"

"He's not an object, Charlotte! Neither you nor I are in charge of him; He decides for himself."

"Then you probably won't mind it if I… introduce myself a little better?"

"You've known each other for six years, and you want to 'introduce yourself a little better'? What is there to know that he hasn't already heard once?"

"Lily, you're so blind sometimes," Charlotte simply stated before shrugging, "but fine; I'll keep my distance from him, since you're sooo in _loooovee_-"

"We are _not _in _l_-"

"And anyway there's always Sirius left, who –mind you- also is the best looking of the two."

I gagged involuntary.

"Oh, come _ON! _Don't say you're already claiming Sirius? There's no one left then!"

"There's still Peter and Frank," Alice piped.

"Ew, Peter! That's revolting, and Frank is not really my type," relief seemed to flood over, Alice.

"There's of course also Remus Lupin, even though he's more the quiet type. But he does look hot…"

"Wait, Remus? No!" I interrupted. No way was _she _going to hook up with Remus, not that I think he would either, but just to be on the safe side, right?

"_Two_ guys? Isn't Sirius enough, ehm what's-you-name?"

"Hayley Thorne," I introduced coldly, "and I'm not 'claiming' Sirius-"

"Remus, then?" She asked surprised.

"No. Remus is my best friend, and Sirius is just… urgh!" I uttered as no other word came to mind that would fit him.

"I know that feeling," Lilly giggled.

"Yeah, from your lover boy," Charlotte laughed, and Lily shot her a death glare, her green eyes set on fire. Charlotte continued as if she hadn't even notice it, which she probably hadn't, "If you start feeling like James' Lily-flower here, it's clearly a sign. You'll fall for Sirius just like any other girl at this place,"

"I will not! He's moron."

"A good-looking moron though."

"Hey, looks aren't everything," I immediately came to think of Remus' scars, at how I knew he felt disgusted by them because they only separated him more from anyone else, than he already was.

"Maybe, but they're a great deal still."

"I'm just saying that I'm not 'claiming' Sirius in anyway. Remus on the other hand is my best friend, which means that if you're hurting him in anyway, I'm allowed to kick your ass." (And how I would enjoy doing that…)

…

"Just ask her out, Frank," I exclaimed, "Alice and you are so into each other, that you're not even noticing it!"

"But-"

"He is right, Frank," Remus added, "Why is it that you can't realize it?"

"Yeah, you should just say 'Alice, I like you _very _much. Will you go out with me?' See, it's easy," James shrugged.

"But what i-"

"If she says 'no'?" I finished for the poor Frank who just nodded, "Well, then she wasn't the one for you. But no need to worry; there're so many girls out there, you can just go out and pick a new one."

"I'll have to disagree with you, mate," James protested from his bed and sat up turning towards Frank who had taken a seat on the windowsill, "If you love her, then you've got to be persistent."

"And become a stalker like you?" James just rolled his eyes at me. He knew that I was only joking.

"I just think that if you like her as much as you say you do, Frank, then you should ask her out. Go to Hogsmeade together,"

"Yeah, maybe I will," Frank nodded seemingly more secure of himself now than he had been earlier.

"By the way, Padfoot, you never did tell us why you and Hayley got a bit loud back on the train," Oh, shit. Wasn't he supposed to be my best friend?

"That was _you_? Wow, we thought someone was about to get killed, as we heard the yelling," Frank grinned, probably glad that he wasn't in the spotlight anymore.

I decided that the best thing to do was to Black-it-up, meaning; be a jerk, which was a specialty of my family.

"Well, she just threw herself at me, but when I said that I wouldn't, she freaked," I shrugged.

"That's… a big fat _lie_," James exclaimed.

"It's not! I'm being completely serious," I lied once again, "she couldn't resist me."

"I'm sorry, my friend," Remus joined in, "but I've known Hayley longer than any other, and she wouldn't do that."

What was I supposed to answer? I couldn't say 'yeah, you're right. It was the other way around, not her hitting on me but me hitting on her' even though it would the truth. Luckily Frank came to my aid without knowing it himself;

"Damn, I think I've dropped my wand somewhere," Even though he was a great wizard, he could be kind of clumsy and forgetful at times "I've got to look for it."

Peter decided to help and together they both left our dormitory. Remus was shifting his sitting position on his bed, when James asked the question I'd had in mind the whole evening;

"What's wrong, Moony?"

"What do you mean?" He asked with an attempt on a confused expression, but the paleness of his face gave him away, as well as its slightly greenish tint. As James and I continued to stare at him, he gave in;

"I don't know," he simply stated, tired eyes gazing out of the window, locking themselves with the moonless sky, "I think I've might overstressed myself with the whole affair. You know; you meeting Hayley and the other way round. Feelings or other psychologically based happenings can affect the… decease."

"With other words; you've got to relax or you're going to get even worse?" I asked.

"Yes, you could say that."

"Well, then relax. It went fine didn't it? We like Hayley, and she likes… well, most of us," James grimaced.

"Yeah, and I'll become friends with her somehow. I can be very charming, you know," I smiled.

"Yeah, sure we do," James rolled his eyes, "Especially if you want to snog someone."

"I-"and just as I was about to defend myself, Remus interrupted me.

"Promise me that you will not treat her like all the others," Remus told me, and I could see that he was in pain, though if it was his 'illness' or something else, I wouldn't have known.

"I promise."

"Thank you."

Later that evening when Peter and Frank had returned with the latter's wand, which apparently had been kicked underneath one of the armchairs in the common room, James whispered to me out of Remus' earshot;

"You know it meant that you shouldn't date her, right?" James asked me.

"Of course," I answered,"and seriously; how hard can it be?"

Very hard, as I soon were to find out…

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**A/N: Helloooo! So that was today's chapter… didn't like it much myself, but what did you think? I'll take a little break from Sirius' POV and do some of the following chapters in Hayley's only…**

**By the way; once, a good friend of mine told me that you're allowed to wish for something New Years Eve. So I would like it if you, tonight, when the firework starts and the clock strikes twelve, to make a wish. Whether you're wishing to get kissed by your crush or perhaps even world peace, that's up to you to decide. But make a wish and celebrate a wonderful evening with your friends and family… See ya in 2011! ;P**

**-Marie**


	4. Learning Quidditch

**Hi guys!**

**How ar- ARGH! *screams while dodging various object being thrown at me* I'm very sorry! *Dodges more objects* I have an excuse! I really do… Do yo- OUCH! Who threw the book? Well, anyway; Do you know the word 'mid-terms'? You do? That's good, because than you'll probably understand (I hope!)… My first week back at school has been filled with them… each day I've had a new one, and I simply couldn't pull myself together to write a new chapter… I'm sorry… I'm I forgiven now? Hope so…**

**Anywaaayy; Here's the new chapter ;)**

**Read & Review

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**

I. _Hated. _Potions…

Probably just as much as I hated Sirius Black (who –by the way- was all over me constantly, but more on that later). I did my best; I really did, to endure it soundlessly, without complaining all the time, but sometimes it just got too much. Especially when you're working, side by side, with Lily Evans who apparently is a genius in potion-making and therefore one of professor Slughorn's favorite students. She was even a member of the well-known slug-club, and couldn't stop bragging about it.

"I'm still so surprised!" She said one afternoon after potions, "of course, I knew I wasn't all that bad, but to become a member of the slug-club is just so s-"

"Surprising?" I finished slowly getting annoyed though I tried to hide it.

"Yes! It's such an honor an- and you're getting really pissed at me now, aren't you?"

"Wha- No!" She shot me stern look of the same sort she always used on James, "Well, yes, perhaps a little bit… okay, a lot!" I surrendered with a heavy sigh and threw my hands into the air in a sign of capitulation.

Before being able to continue talking I bumped into something hard...

"Ouch," and something that apparently could talk, too.

With my small height of only 5'4'' I had to take a step back to get a look at the stranger. My eyes got caught by a certain pair of mesmerizing grey ones. Sirius Black smirked at me and I felt a slight blush tainting my cheeks (See, what I meant about being all over me constantly?).

"You look cute when you're blushing," he said and something in his voice told me that he was speaking the truth, though his smirk disagreed.

A low sound of coughing could be heard from behind. I stepped a little to the right and saw Remus shooting a disapproving look towards Sirius before he caught my eye.

"Hello Hayley, how was potions? As dreadful as always?" he smiled. Ever since the night we'd arrived his health had seemed to increase itself without any apparent medical help.

"'Course it were," I rolled my eyes in exasperation, "I can't see the point of brewing a love potion, if it's impossible to brew 'the perfect one'. Doesn't make sense."

"Well, I thought it was pretty interesting actually," Lily said.

"But that's only because you're the best in class!"

"She sure is; I've already been bewitched by her love potions," James smiled at her, appearing side by side with Sirius.

Someone snorted nearby (Someone else than Lily, anyway) and we all turned to face the greasy haired Severus Snape also know by the name of 'Snivellus'. As far as I had been told, he was Lily's _ex-_best friend. They had apparently 'broken up' after he called her a Mudblood, while she had been defending him. Stupid brat!

"You want to say anything, Snivelly?" James sneered.

Before Snape had any possibility of uttering a retort, Lily started pushing James in the other direction, earning glances of hurt from the greasy haired boy.

"Lily, what are yo-?" James started but Lily just kept pushing him away. We followed them. Once far away from Snape and the class room, Lily finally stopped. James cocked eyebrow as to question her again.

"I'm grateful that you're taking care of me, Potter, but…" she held her breath for a moment and seemed to be scrutinizing her brain for any plausible excuse, "but you're Headboy. You can't go around and pick fights with students."

James on the other hand just stood in front of her, smiling like an idiot. He had probably only heard the words '_I'm grateful that you're taking care of me, Potter'_ and nothing more, replaying it over and over in his head.

Lily smiled at him before quickly hurrying away, hiding a blush.

"Mate," Sirius punched the mesmerized James lightly on the arm, and he seemed to wake up from his dream like state, "she's gone."

"Oh, yeah. I knew that," he grinned quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment at getting caught in the act of dreaming about Lily Evans. Well, it couldn't really be a first time incident.

"Hayley, you want to go to pitch with us. There are quidditch try-outs today," Sirius asked, "Of course, only if she's allowed, Captain." With those words he turned towards James and made a little salute, which James returned.

"Sure, she can," He smiled.

"What do you say, Hayley?"

"Ehm…" I stammered not really sure what to say.

"You should go," the reassuring voice of my best friend said, from where he was standing beside me.

And before I knew it, Sirius had grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me towards the entrance. I looked over my shoulder and realized that Remus wasn't following us.

"Where you're going?" I yelled to him as he turned his back towards us and began walking.

"I have some homework to finish. See you at dinner!" He answered without looking at me.

A voice seemed to scream the same sentence over and over again inside my head: _What's wrong with him?_ He acted so differently from usually, that I couldn't stop wondering whether it was because of me or something else. There was something he wasn't telling me, and it drived me insane.

The weather outside was nice; Sun was shining, sky was blue and the only wind was a light breeze. Even though I knew nothing about quidditch, I guessed that this had to be the ideal weather for it.

Still dragging me along by the arm, Sirius guided us safely to the pitch. James followed a few steps behind.

The quidditch pitch was _huge. _It was oval-shaped and all around it high stands, containing hundreds of seats, was standing with regular distances between them. At each end of the pitch were also three –what I suspected to be- goal hoops standing.

We walked slowly towards the middle of it where a small crowd had gathered. James quickened up his pace, and joined them before we did.

"Hello everyone!" he greeted them. It was a mix of all ages to be honestly; a few looked like they hadn't even hit puberty yet, and was shorter than me by a head. Others were as huge as doors it seemed and probably also as wide. Even Sirius, who was pretty tall, couldn't compete with any of those.

"Welcome to this year's quidditch try-outs. We'll start with some exercises to see how you're handling the broom. So… grab your brooms. Oh! And if you don't have one than you can use one of the school brooms."

People started shuffling in each direction; either heading for brooms or leaping into the air while on their brooms.

James turned towards us.

"You're ready, Padfoot?" for a fraction of a second his eyes looked at something between Sirius and myself, and as we both turned to stare at the same spot he had, we suddenly blushed furiously (Was it just me or was I constantly blushing when around him?); Sirius still hadn't let go of my arm. He quickly released his grip and followed James without a word.

I felt rather odd as I stood there by myself, and didn't really know where to go. Luckily though, Frank Longbottom suddenly came running towards the boys, two brooms under his one arm. He handed both Sirius as well as James their brooms and they thanked him. Suddenly Sirius looked up and caught my eye. He started pointing towards me, and within seconds Frank was guiding me to one of the high stands.

Once seated, we watched as the players soared through the air, with the exception of James who was shouting orders at them and one of those big blokes whose broom simply wouldn't leave the ground.

"Well, of course it won't fly. It isn't used to elephants sitting on it!" Frank joked from the seat beside me making me laugh.

Frank was a tall guy I guess, though not quite as tall as Sirius, but still taller than James. He had dark blond hair that was cut so short it almost looked completely black, though –of course- not the same tone of black like Siriu- Why did I keep thinking about that guy!

Banning Sirius from my train of thought I turned my focus back on the game, where people had divided up into some smaller teams and the balls were released from their cage. While they started playing, Frank explained me the game; moves, balls, players and pretty much everything else that was relevant to quidditch. He also explained that both James and Sirius were Chasers, which were those who scored by throwing the Quaffle through the goal hoops. And as I watched the players flying through the air on their brooms, I couldn't help but feel a little curious about how it felt like; to be soaring through the air, feeling the wind playing with your hair and the freedom about it all. I had never been flying on a broom before, since we often lived in bigger towns where I would have no possibility of flying at all. My mom had also stated many times earlier through my life that she had never been a good flyer herself, which perhaps also was a reason as to why I had never been taught it.

As the sun slowly started to sink, bathing our surroundings in coppery golden tones, people started heading towards the ground again, demounting from their brooms as they did so. Frank and I left our seats and went down the steps to join the others. While all students left for the castle Sirius and James was in what seemed to be a bit of a heated argument. I shot Frank a questioning look, though he merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Guys?" he asked.

"What?" they both turned sharply on us, eyes narrowed. Though seeing it was us, their expressions softened. Sirius even broke into a grin.

"What did you think?" he asked me.

"It was…" I drew out the answer to annoy him a bit, though it didn't seem to work, his grin actually just widened, "pretty cool."

"Thought so," his eyes lingered on me for a moment longer than they probably should have, and I felt a tingling in the pit of my stomach. Finally turned away from me, he said; "Who's hungry?" to which we all nodded or agreed in some way and left for the castle together.

…

I looked out of the window from my seat on the windowsill, my diary propped in my lap, the pencil bouncing in my grasp (I had always preferred to write with a pen when it came to writing in my diary… Ink and quill just took too long for my taste). It was a nice evening; as nice as the day had been and the stars shone brightly side by side with the growing moon.

I had always written in diaries, ever since I was a little girl, and the worn out, yellow book was like a safe haven for me; everything that had ever gone through my head was written into my diaries and I had a whole collection of those at my grandmothers.

I grabbed the pen a bit firmer and pressed it to the sheet. Slowly words began to appear on it in a bluish ink;

_Dear Diary_

_It's Friday today, and it's also my 11__th__ day at Hogwarts. _

I wrote a bit about everyday life, of James and Sirius' mysterious argument, of the wish to fly and much more, before ending it with the words;

_It's weird. I never really thought about it earlier, but it's actually quite nice here, and even though potions suck this school still rocks! (See what I just did there?) _

_I'll go to bed now._

_Love _

_Hayley! _

After writing my signature I slowly closed the book and, careful not to wake any of the sleeping girls surrounding me, walked over to my trunk were I hid the book between pairs of socks. Afterwards I lay down in bed, crawled underneath the duvet and closed my eyes with a content sigh, before slowly slipping off into dreamland.

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**A/N: Hi again! The ending's kinda crappy, but what do you think? Good, Bad; you know, the typical… tell me in a review ;D Well, see ya!**

**-Marie**


	5. Dueling Club

**Hellooo! Again; Thank you SO much for the reviews and subscriptions… you're freaking awesome! ;D **

**Here it is (Though it's my shortest so far… couldn't really figure out how to continue this at the moment, so you'll have to bear with me…) the next chapter in my story "Meeting Sirius Black"**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!**

The Gryffindor common room was close to empty with the exception of a small group of its 7th years. Frank Longbottom was occupying the love seat with Alice; a girl he fancied tough he didn't knew that it was requited unconditionally by her. Charlotte Louise Byrd, a girl who was obsessed by boys, looks and power, was sitting cross-legged in one of the cozy armchairs, turning the pages of a magazine her mother had sent her the same morning, Peter Pettigrew drooling at the sight of her from his seat at a table.

It was quietly and not much noise could be heard from outside the portrait of the Fat Lady, which was the entrance to the hidden room only accessible by Gryffindors. At times they would begin small-talking though it quickly ceased since none of them really had any desire at all to it.

It was a cool September day, a Saturday actually, but not cool in the term of a winter coolness but more in a refreshing manner with a blue sky clearly visible behind the clouds.

Every student attending Hogwarts was looking forward to the dueling club, which was starting the same afternoon. It had been introduced as a way of improving people's fondness of the Defence Against the Dark Arts, though everyone knew or at least suspected that it had something to do with You-Know-Who, who was attacking muggles and muggle-borns all round the country. The latest rumors even spoke of an alliance he had made with the giants, who hated wizards deeply, of the inferi, dead bodies being reanimated by dark magic, and of course of the imperiused wizards who could be anyone; a neighbor, friend, relative, ministry member or even the minister of magic himself.

But even though the wizarding community was currently going through dark and hard times filled with mistrust, murder and betrayal, the four Gryffindor's didn't waste a thought on it. At the moment they were actually occupied with completely different thoughts;

"Fool!" a girl was yelling furiously.

"Know-it-all!" a boy replied just as harsh.

"Moron!"

"Princess!"

"Oh! Come with some real insults!"

The voices were coming from the other side of the portrait, and had been roaring for the last couple of minutes.

"Who could it be?" Charlotte asked no one particular.

"James and Lily maybe," Frank suggested with a shrug.

"Yes, mayb-"

But at that moment the door leading to the girls' dormitory was opened and a redheaded girl entered the common room. Her hair was ruffled and looked as if she had been standing in a very windy place, but since the only wind came from a light breeze, Charlotte jumped to the only conclusion that came to her mind;

"Lily, have you been flying?" This would seem absurd for muggle-ears, but as it was a normal thing for wizards to fly round on magical brooms it wasn't that weird a conclusion, except for the fact that Lily Evans always had been a terrible flier, which they of course knew only too well.

"Wha- No! What an absurd suggestion," she exclaimed; trying to tell the lie convincingly, but another thing Lily was terrible at was lying, which –again- they only knew too well.

"Oh my God," Charlotte said slowly, dragging each word into -what seemed like- eternity, before blurting it out, "You've been flying with James!"

"I've not… Pfft! _No…_ that's… completely… _no_," still trying desperately to convince her fellow students, the door to the boys' dormitory creaked open revealing James Potter, Headboy as well as captain for the Gryffindor quidditch team. His jet-black hair, too, was ruffled and he looked as if he'd just been flying on a –or (since he owned one himself) in this case his _own-_ broom. He smiled at his friend before grinning at Lily.

"What did you think then? Not that ba-"

"Shut _UP!_" he had been interrupted by the voice of the yelling girl, who everyone had forgotten for a moment, well, except Lily and James who both had only just arrived and therefore hadn't heard of the insults yet.

"You think you're so special, don't you?" the boy retorted as harshly as earlier.

"I've told you before; I _don't _think I'm special! Get it into that thick head of yours!"

"Who is that?" Lily whispered afraid of being heard by any of the two arguing outdoors.

"We thought it was you," Alice answered also in a whisper.

"But now we're lost," Charlotte sighed.

James on the other hand had quite a good idea, about who it was, that was yelling so loudly outside. He had after all known one of them since his first day at Hogwarts. He walked towards the door ignoring Lily who tried to withhold him whispering "No, James! Stay here" and grabbed his arm. But even though his heart leapt by the use of his first name he shrugged her off, and kept walking towards the portrait. It opened soundlessly revealing the agitated girl, her long dark curls flying vigorously out of the bun on top of her head, her cheeks flushed while screaming insults at the dark haired boy, who was more than a head higher, his silvery grey eyes lightning though still with a glint of hidden amusement, which only was visible to James, since they were best friends for life.

Hayley Thorne and Sirius Black really couldn't stand each other it seemed…

…

I was just about to give it another go at yelling, when James appeared behind the portrait and pulled us both inside. I was pretty sure that I heard how the Fat Lady was praising him in every possible way;

"Thank goodness, they're gone"

"Violet, will surely hear about this"

"That Potter-fellow really is the _perfect _Headboy!"

"No one ever thinks about us poor portraits anymore, but we actually have feelings, too… Well, sort of"

Etc. etc. Entering the common room was like being an animal in the zoo; _everyone _was staring. And even though 'everyone' only meant six people, it still felt horrible. I stared at the ground trying to ignore the scolding look James gave us (Wow, didn't knew he could imitate Lily that well!), while Sirius cocked a careless grin.

"You've been flying with Evans?" He asked nodding towards Lily, who looked rather windblown and breathless.

"Yeah," James answered with a bright expression. Lily blushed furiously;

"_James!"_ she whispered reproachfully.

"Uhm… yeah," He wiped the grin of his face and turned back to serious, "What were you arguing about?"

"Well, he's a an idiot that ought to explain somethi-"

"_I'_m an idiot? It wasn't me who started this, now, was i-"

"Are you implying that it was me?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm im-"

"Oh, Mr. Black, aren't you pretending to be a bit too innocent no-"

"I never said such a thing!"

"Well, then, what did you say?"

"I merely said I didn't _start_ i-"

"Shut _up!_" Charlotte exclaimed from her armchair by the dead fireplace, "You're sounding like an old married couple already, or perhaps even worse; like Lily and James!"

Lily's eyes glistered in a dangerous fashion as she was about to shoot a retort at Charlotte, but James –seeing the possible catfight- grabbed her by the arm and walked out of the portrait hole with her. She shot Charlotte a last hot glare, before turning her head so rapidly that her long dark red hair billowed round her shoulders.

"That was low," I told her, but she simply fixed her eyes upon Sirius, interest making her stormy blue eyes sparkle.

"So, _Mr. _Black; are you going to participate in the dueling club?" she asked with a sly smile (For some reason I felt the need to hit her with something heavy…)

"Of course, wouldn't miss it," he replied with sarcasm dripping from each syllable as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, I surely wouldn't," (Change that to _very _heavy…)

"What about you, Hayley? Coming?"

"Happily," I answered in what was clearly too cheerful a tone. No matter which tone used though, he still grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me towards the exit, where Lily and James also just had disappeared from. I actually considered blowing her a raspberry, when it suddenly hit me; wasn't I mad at this guy?

Once we had left the quiet common room behind us, I pulled myself out of his grasp and stalked off towards the Great Hall. Lucky for me; he didn't pursuit.

**A/N: Hi again… I told you it was short anyway; I hoped you still liked it… Review! They make my day ;D See ya!**

**-Marie**


	6. Wanna Bet?

**Hi'ya! So this update was preeetyyyyy late… and I'm so sorry. But it's merely the same old excuses (school, friends, obligations etc.) and I've also been an intern at a local newspaper… journalism don't compare with actual 'writing' though… Not for me, anywaaayy ;)**

**But here it is;**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!

* * *

**

Entering the Great Hall was like entering a rock concert; everywhere around me people were pushing their way up to the front, where a patch of floor had been kept empty for dueling purposes. Thanks to my height, it was quite easy to get through the mass without being crushed by anyone. Once reaching the front, I noticed that Lily and James also where standing there, only a few people right of me. They were talking in a friendly manner, and Lily even laughed at one of his jokes. They simply were meant to be and (No matter how flustered Lily got) they knew it, too.

"Hello, stranger," someone said in a muffled tone and I didn't pay them much attention, before someone poked me in the back.

"Hey-" I turned sharp on my heels, ready to insult this 'poker', as I suddenly became face to face (or actually; face to chest… but you get the point: I'm half dwarf! *HEAVY sarcasm* though I a_m _small) with Remus, who looked greener than ever before, "You look _horrible_!"

"Love you, too, Hales," he smiled.

Then it hit me; I hadn't seen him all day.

"Where've you been hiding?"

"Hiding? Nowhere," he answered calmly, though seemed to get tense, "Resting though; in my dormitory,"

"Resting? You're getting worse?"

"No, it's becoming better soon. I promise,"

Before I could get the chance of asking him anymore, professor Flitwick entered the cleared space followed by Professor X; yes, I'm not kidding. He had never introduced himself to _anyone –_neither me nor any other student- and people were left with calling him Professor X. Rumors even said that he was an ex-convict who had fled from Azkaban.' Murderer' they whispered in the corners during his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. Apparently he should have killed lots of muggles, as well as muggle-born wizards; like a Death Eater to be exact, and with his seven feet tall frame, along with the broad shoulders and badly scared eye (a wound collected while being chased by ministry aurors, people guessed) he surely was scary enough to be one. But even though everyone felt sure about it, no one could answer the question, as to why Dumbledore had hired him. They merely shrugged and said something like 'He's mad; it's not that big of a secret" or "He lost his marbles long ago".

While puzzling this over in my brain I was surprised, when the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick spoke;

"Hello Students!" he greeted happily, "Today is your first dueling class. Professor… ehm," Flitwick shot X a quizzical look, but was only replied with a low grunt. He quickly continued "and I will be teaching you how to duel…" he began explaining the rules of dueling, though most didn't listen; we were all waiting in anticipation at the opportunity of trying to duel in a real manner. You may learn the spells in class, but it's not the same using them on dummies and such.

Before I knew it Flitwick was addressing me…

"Miss Thorne, would you be so nice?" he said while pointing next to him and I went to join him.

As he asked for another volunteer hands shot into the air around us; Remus wasn't one of them. He simply knew me too well…

A random hand was picked and its owner came to the front, only to earn mad glares from me; Sirius Black was smirking from one ear to the other as he entered the cleared strip.

"Now play fair," Flitwick told us before hurrying out of our way.

We met on the middle of the patch and bowed.

"Let's make a bet," Sirius whispered only loud enough so I could hear it, "If I win you're going to kiss me-"

"I am so not goin-"

"On the cheek," he added hastily, "and if you win…"

"You'll stop hitting on me," I smiled.

"Fine," he smiled back in a self secure manner. Oh, boy! He had no idea what was coming…

"Fine," I turned my back on him and took three steps towards my end of the 'arena'.

Turning back, I saw his wand held high and ready to attack.

Somewhere from the crowd professor X's voice growled:

"3. 2. 1!"

"Expellia-"he began lazily but I was faster;

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"he cried as the jets of red light spurted out of my wand and towards him, an invisible shield deflecting them, "you're not that bad,"

"Never said I was," I smiled at him.

"Levi-"

"Silencio," I spoke calmly, smirking as his voice disappeared, "now, what do you say, Bla- argh!"

My remark got turned into a scream as I suddenly was lifted into the air by my ankles. Damn it! He had used a freaking non-verbal spell.

"Tarantallegra!" I yelled upside down, watching as his feet broke into uncontrollably dancing.

The crowd roared with laughter and Sirius shot me a glare. A second later I bumped –face first- down unto the ground again.

"Ouch," I muttered to myself, but Sirius had already recovered from the silencing charm…

"Rictusempra," his wand pointed to me steadily, while his feet kept going nuts to an imaginary beat.

A feeling of being tickled spread all through my being, and I couldn't restrain the laughter that bubbled out of me.

"Pet-Petrificus totalus," I giggled.

The audience gasped as Sirius used another shield charm to deflect my curse. Then we both took aim, one giggling hysterically and the other dancing like a maniac, and cried;

"_Stupefy!_ " the jets of red light flew at each other and met in the middle, creating a smaller explosion, though strong enough to knock both Sirius and myself of our feet and into the crowd.

Professor Flitwick quickly ended today's lesson and asked people to leave, which they eventually did although very reluctantly (since most of them had surrounded Sirius and I asking us tons of questions as well as congratulating (_For what?_)). Flitwick and X followed them out the door. Lastly only James, Lily and Remus were left.

"You're all right?" James asked eyeing us from their standing point in between us.

"No," I groaned. I was still lying on my back as was Sirius. Every muscle seemed to be numb and sore on the same time.

"You're a good duelist," Lily noted with a nod towards me, "how come?"

"Well, my mom taught me some. And Remus showed me a lot of jinxes and such, "

"_You_ taught her this?" Sirius asked disbelieving.

"Yes, I did," Remus answered calmly, but didn't succeed in hiding the smile that had made its way upon his features, "that's also why I didn't volunteer,"

Sirius protested a bit on the subject, but agreed after a couple of minutes to let it rest. The three of them helped us up, only to find that we weren't able to stand by our self. Remus grabbed me by the waist and put my right arm over his shoulders, as did James with Sirius. Lilly walked in between us.

"You know," James groaned as he supported Sirius on his way out of the Great Hall, "you two aren't allowed to duel again. _Ever._ I'll get hurt myself just by carrying you around!"

As we laughed at his remark, a worried-looking professor Flitwick came hurrying towards us, Madam Pomfrey in his lead.

"Oh, poor children! I am so sorry, Miss Thorne," his voice quivered as if close to tears while grasping my hand (I was one of his favorite students… What can I say; I'm good at charms). Sirius rolled his eyes at us.

"It's nothing serious, professor. You hadn't needed to fetch Madam Pomfrey for us. We're fine," I assured the tiny man in front me. He let go of my hand.

"I'm deeply impressed by your toughness, Miss Thorne, but I still think that both you and Mr. Black should be checked by Madam Pomfrey,"

And no matter what I would say, he simply wouldn't budge; Sirius and I were left with nothing else to do than to follow Madam Pomfrey to the nursery.

…

The darkness was blossoming like a beautiful flower outside the castle, and the stars began to peep through the thick clouds that had gathered through the day. James, Lily and Remus had left the hospital wing earlier that evening (on Madam Pomfrey strict request) and Sirius and I had to make our way back to the Gryffindor tower ourselves.

Even though my body had been healed by all different kinds of magic, I still felt unbelievable sore in every cell of my body.

"You look like crap," Sirius joked from his steady pace beside me.

I thought about my broken arm and collarbone as well as several fingers; not to mention the bruises that had covered my body until they had been healed with the rest.

"It wasn't me who broke four ribs," I smiled and added in a playful tone, "and admit it; I'm unbelievable hot,"

He stopped walking and grabbed me by my forearm, making me stop, too, and turning me towards him at the same time.

"You are," he said with a funny glint to his eyes, and I could feel how my breath got stuck in my throat. It quickly faded though and he broke into a grin, "what about that kiss? I _did _win,"

"But so did I,"

"You did _no-_"

"Oh, but I did," I giggled.

"'kay, then; you'll give me the kiss and I will stop hitting on you. Sound good?" he smiled.

"Sure," I replied calmly. He stuck his cheek mockingly towards me and I jumped upon my tiptoes, heading for it. But just as I was about to touch his skin with my lips he turned his head…

I gasped as his lips met mine and froze. It was brief, but to me the seconds felt like they had been multiplied into thousands;His lips were soft and warm and it sent shivers down my spine. It made it also clear that Sirius was a well-experienced kisser… Wait; I _can't _be kissing Sirius! It's Sirius Black for crying out loud!

I backed away and smacked my hand across his face without any consideration, before stalking of to the tower by myself, leaving a baffled looking Sirius behind.

…

_Dear Diary_

_I was kissed by Si_

_I was walking back to the tower with him and_

_Sirius turned his head and _

_Sirius kissed_

_Sirius t_

_He turned his_

_He kissed me…_

I sat on the windowsill as usual while writing today's diary entry. I felt the blush that crept into my cheeks by the thought of the ki-… the k-thing.

I held my fingers against my lips remembering the feel of his tender ones against them… Damn it, I need help! I'm becoming mental! That moron shouldn't have kissed me and he knows it! You're not just kissing random girls – well, at least not if you're _normal._ Stupid Sirius '_freaking' _Black.

I looked out of the window hoping to forget Sirius for a moment, and began to study the surroundings instead; everything was pitch-black since the clouds had become heavier and fuller than earlier in the day. The moon was full and only barely visible behind the curtain of clouds and the stars had grown invisible. Peaceful and quietly lay the grounds of Hogwarts but still something disturbed the picture; a pair of eyes it seemed, was glowing through the dark. I gulped as I noticed that they were staring at me – or at least something _very _close to me. They didn't seem unfriendly though; no, they showed interest.

A noise came from behind and I turned for a second in its direction, only to realize that Charlotte had lulled into a light snore. Smiling, I turned back to find the eyes gone.

_I'm becoming mental._

I wrote the words before ending the entry.

I sneaked to bed, hiding my diary at its usual spot between some old pairs of socks, before crawling under the warm duvets, my sore muscles finally relaxing, though not able to forget the feeling of Sirius' kiss before finally drifting into a dreamless sleep.

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**A/N: Hey! Again! What did you think? Personally I'm not really proud of this chapter… but it had to be there; it'll be important for the rest of the story… as will professor X (I know; terrible name! But my imagination just died…) but he'll get important - later on… Well, review, my lovelies; you brighten my day! ;D**

**-Marie**


	7. Taaaaalk To Me!

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews once again (and the subscriptions, too, of couse)… I especially love the long ones where you explain what you liked (or hated) the most in the chapter… in that way I can adjust the story more to you, since you _are_ its readers… but no matter if short or long; I appreciate your reviews (and subscriptions) SO much since they mean that people are reading this and enjoying this… so thanks for taking your time with reviewing and subscribing.**

**Anywaaayy; here's the new chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**Read and Review!

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"Hayley?"

"Can you hear that, too, Lily? It sounds like something is buzzing," I asked her in a mocking way, ignoring the presence of a certain Sirius Black seated right next to me, "or someone," I added as an afterthought.

"No, Hayley," she answered automatically (I had been pestering her with the same questions for the last hour… or two perhaps), her eyes scanning today's edition of The Daily Prophet.

"Haaaaayley?

"Are you _completely _sure of it?" I asked once again, putting my fork loaded with scrambled eggs into my mouth, munching happily on the food before continuing , "I'm close to sure that there's somethi-"

"Oh, stop it!" she snapped (ups!), throwing the newspaper aside to scorn me better, "Why are you ignoring him anyway?"

I hadn't really told her about the… ehm… 'incident' yet; the k-…thingy. Nor was I planning to do so in the near future.

As I didn't answer her but instead kept eating my breakfast, while avoiding eye contact, she turned to Sirius.

"What _did _you do?"

"She's just upset about the fact that I ki-" at that moment James and Remus apparently heard their queues and came to sit down on each side of Lily, who sat in front of us. I was pretty sure that I heard Sirius gulp.

"Hey. What are you talking about?" James asked curiously while serving himself greedily.

"Why Hayley is giving Sirius the silent treatment," Lily informed him, arms now crossed over her chest.

"What did he do?" Remus joined in; he actually looked healthy for once. Since the day of our first dueling lesson - five days ago - his health had increased in an exceptionally fast manner.

"He was actually just about to answer that one," Lily informed our newly arrived friends before they all turned to stare at us. I simply kept my mouth full of food.

"Well?" she prompted when no response came.

"Ehm…" (way to go Sirius; start with an 'ehm') "I… we… she's just mad about the fact that I ki-" I kicked him under the table, and somehow this seemed to ignite his missing imagination, "about the fact that I kicked her under the chair during Transfiguration!"

"Seriously?" they turned their eyes on me, trying to get some kind of approval of this statement. I just nodded (what else could I do?).

"That's… so stupid," James said gulping his food down in between the words.

"Well, that's the truth," Sirius grinned in hidden relieve while he ran a hand through his black hair, "Didn't knew she would get this pissed though,"

I aimed another kick at his leg, but ended up hitting James instead, who cried out in pain:

"Oi! Did you just _kick _me?"

"What? Me? No! Why would I do such a thing? Pffst!" I replied, trying to act innocent though not really succeeding in it (Tough crowd, huh?), "Well, we should better get to class,"

With those words and a nervous giggle from my part, I grabbed my books from the table, and left for the dungeons. Yippi yay! Another long and dreadful potion-class… How lucky can you be? (*cough* SACASM! *cough*).

…

"Come _on, _Hayley! _Talk!_" Sirius whined once again.

"Did you say something, Mr. Black?" Professor Slughorn's voice drifted from the front of the class to our seats at the back.

"No, professor," Sirius replied grumpily shooting me an exasperated glance.

"Well, begin with the brewing!" he told us and in a manner of seconds the whole class was buzzing round the room to find the required ingredients.

"Taaaaaalk to me…"

I went to the nearest cabinet and grabbed a bottle of stewed lacewing flies as well as the cardboard box filled with Antimony; we had to brew our own Polyjuice Potion. Glee…

"Haaayley…"

"Lily, do you need some lacewing flies?" I asked my red-haired friend who was already mixing the contents together from which I concluded: "I guess not,"

I began brewing the potion while Sirius kept whining:

"Haaayley!"

"Cooome on… it wasn't on purpose,"

"This is stupid!"

"Taaaaalk to me… pleeeeeaaaase!"

But I kept my poker-face switched on and ignored him, which actually was pretty hard; he simply looked adorable when pouting (wait, what?).

…

I had watched her every movement doing potions, as well as now, where she was curled up in one of the cozy armchairs that were suited close to the fire in the Gryffindor tower, a book probed in her lap. Her brown eyes, that reminded me of smelted chocolate, scanned the pages carefully before she turned them over with her delicate hand; her skin as pale as the sheet of papers itself.

Personally I was sitting in a chair by one of the vacant tables, pretending to be writing my potions essay. I had a hard time fighting the urge to jump out of my chair and over to her, looking deep into her eyes before tugging one of her rebellious curls – that had gone astray from its plait - behind her ear; I didn't though and watched her do it instead.

The silence between us was still unchanged as she kept pretending that I was nothing more than hot air to her. It was killing me and something had to be done.

I knew it had been stupid of me to kiss her. But it had been as if my body had reacted on its own; like a magnet drawn to the other with no possible way of escaping.

The most important things though to keep in mind now were:

1. Get Hayley to forgive me… or at least talk to me again

2. Try to re-obtain the control of my own body again and - by that - preventing such an incident from happening again… or at least have her responding positively on it… ehm; scratch the last part

3. Keep it a secret! James and Remus are not allowed to know about it… EVER!

I would be more than dead if they did, as James already had explained to me the other day on the quidditch pitch;

"_This is Remus' best friend you're flirting with-" _James had told me.

"_I'm not flirtin-"_

"_She's like a _sister _to him!"_

"_I know and I'm not flirting with he-"_

"_Of course you are; already the way that you 'dragged' her down here? You like her, which is _not _good!"_

"_Pffst! I don't _like _her. She's merely nice company-" _that sentence had come out in a completely wrong way.

"_So you want to snog her once or twice, and then what? You're going back to 'Sweetheart' again then? Because if you do, Remus will beat the crap out of you, mate,"_

"_Hey, I broke up with _her, _so I'm not going ba-"_

"_And no matter what; don't play with Hayley,"_ It was at that moment the girl in question and Frank had joined us and James only added, _"Just stay away, that's easier for everyone,"_

One instruction. One very _simple _instruction and I had messed it up. Way to go, Sirius, you're becoming more of a Black for every day that goes by. I gritted my teeth at the thought. I despised my family and their 'pure-blood-mania' as much as they probably despised me; the son who had turned out to be a Gryffindor, being as different from the rest of the family as possible. They would probably hate Hayley, too, since she only was half-blooded. I couldn't help but smiling at the thought of introducing her as my girlfriend to my dear parents and brother (wait, what?).

Anyway; Plan 'Get-Hayley-to-talk-to-me-again' was in action.

…

I felt the stares as I turned another page of my book. I was currently reading _The Fellowship of the Ring _by J. R. R. Tolkien. Since I had been a little girl I had loved to curl up into a chair and read fantasy novels, though I also counted books like _A Tale of Two Cities _by Charles Dickens as well as _Pride and Prejudice _by Jane Austenamong my favorites.

As already mentioned, I felt his eyes lingering on me. The strange thing though; I didn't really mind. It didn't creep me out that I knew his grey gaze was studying me. No, it actually felt… nice.

Great, I'm becoming crazier by the day.

I still hadn't spoken to him and wasn't planning on either. It was his own fault after all; you don't just go around kissing people!

Once again I felt my cheeks heating up by a well-known blush that had been torturing me ever since it happened. It seemed as if every time I would start thinking about it, that same blush would creep into my cheeks, getting peoples notice, which always led to thousands of questions being asked. Just like yesterday during dinner;

"_Why are you blushing?" _Lily had asked me curiously from her usual seat in front of me.

"_What?" _ I had replied. I had been deep in thought about… ehm… 'stuff'.

"_Come on, tell me; why are you blushing?"_

"_Ehm…"_

"_Someone special on your mind?" _a surprising fact about Lily Evans: She can be a hell of a lot like James, which had become clear as she began to wiggle her eyebrows at me. It was scary, actually.

"_No! Pffst! How absurd!"_

"_Oh, come on you sound like me when I'm lying abou-" _At that point she had kind of realized her mistake and I had from that sentence interrogated her about this subject that apparently had her lying constantly (_"James?" _ "_No! How come you… no! Why would… I… why?... never!"… _You can draw your own conclusions). Take that Lily Evans; I smile inwardly at the thought. She may have grown to be my best female friend, but she needed to get a grip and admit that she was hooked on James Potter; a thing I was gladly looking forward to help her with.

"Why are you smiling?" his voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up from my book to meet his curious look.

I opened my mouth and was just about to reply when Lily entered through the portrait-hole.

"Great! Are you talking to each other again?" she asked smiling (why was she so glad?).

Remembrance hit me like a brick wall and I turned my eyes back to the pages of my book.

"No?" I could practically tell that she was grimacing even though my eyes were glued to the paper, while reading about Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry's adventurous trip through the Old Forest.

"Nope," Sirius sighed and turned back to his essay.

"Hayley, this is childish, you know that, right?" she asked me and I felt her green eyes on me as they studied my face and its expressions.

"What is?" I asked indifferently, continuing my reading as if undisturbed.

"'kay, I'll let you deal with it," she sighed before walking towards the girls' dormitory.

"Why is your hair so messed up, by the way?"

The question took her by surprise and she turned to stare at me (do I need to say she was blushing?).

"W-what?"

"Your hair looks like… ehm…" I couldn't really find a good description for its tousled appearance.

"Like you've been snogging someone," Sirius added in with a smirk.

He was right; her hair looked like someone else had been running his hands through it, probably while kissing her pretty passionately, which only left;

"James?" I exclaimed.

"What? _Snogging… _with… _James_…never!… I-I tripped," she defended, her blush deepening.

"Oh my! I don't believe it!" the thought that they had actually been kissing seemed absurd, but also so perfectly right; they simply were meant for each other.

"Lily Evans, and I who thought you'd never give in to him," Sirius teased her, laughing along with me, "remember to set me up with your maid of honor at your upcoming wedding,"

"I… _no!_" but seeing that we simply wouldn't stop she stormed out of the room and up the stairs to our dormitory. I'm pretty sure I saw her smile though before leaving.

After our laughter ceased, Sirius turned to look at me again, his mesmerizing grey gaze meeting my own brown one.

"We're a good team," he grinned.

"Yea-" I stopped but it was already too late…

"You're talking to me again?" his grin widened visibly at that.

"No…" and with those last words I returned to my book, hiding a tiny smile.

He wasn't all that bad, that Sirius Black.

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**A/N: What did you think of it? Leave a review (short or long… you decide ;)) and tell me what you think… See ya!**

**-Marie**


	8. Wish Me Good Luck?

**Hi!**

**So… I've had a really uncreative weekend. Had a girls sleep-over Friday evening at my house with three really good friends and we had a blast… but sadly I was completely unmotivated for the rest of Saturday, and it continued all Sunday… So I was actually planning on updating tomorrow, but then I got my head cleared up (thanks to a nice loooong and waaaarm shower!) and I managed to get this chapter finished! Hallelujah! So you can all thank my amazing shower for this update ^o^**

**Anywaaayy; I'll stop rambling and let you read…**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!

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Before we knew it September had ended and October quickly followed suit with no particular events (except the Halloween feast… I was so full that evening! Deliciously!). November arrived with cold weather and hard wind, and it seemed to become a rough game of quidditch – the first in the new season – that were scheduled for the second Saturday of November. Our Gryffindor boys had been spending hour after hour on the pitch, training and preparing themselves for their match against Slytherin for the last several weeks.

Everyone was looking forward to the match, which promised to be a challenge for both teams since the wind had picked up at the early morning of the scheduled day and was now blowing fiercely outside the castle doors.

We were all (Well, Remus, Lily and I were… as well as Alice, Frank and Peter though they were seated a bit farther away…) seated in the Great Hall, which was lacking a lot of its elder female students for some unknown reason, while eating a late breakfast. James, Sirius and the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team were in the mean time prepping them for the game.

"Everything alright?" I asked Lily who gazed unfocused in front of her, looking paler than usual.

"Lily?" Remus added in a calm tone, gently shaking her –across the table- from his seat beside me.

She snapped back to attention, her eyes widening before turning towards the enchanted ceiling; cloudy with a chance of _more_ clouds.

"That's not good," she muttered to herself.

She was creeping me out, to be honest; her eyes seemed huge as they went back to stare into the nothingness.

"I think she's worried," Remus whispered to me.

"What?"

"She only gets like this when the weather is _really _bad during one of our quidditch games,"

"Oh!" realization struck me like a lightning bolt might strike a lonely tree on an open field.

James. That explained it. She was worried about _James. _Well, I couldn't really blame her; the conditions had seemed bad to me from the beginning, but when even skilled quidditch folks began to worry about it, I knew it couldn't be good. As did Lily, apparently.

"Lily? Lily!" I snapped my fingers in front of her and she became present again, staring at the ceiling just like before, "You want to wish Ja- I mean our _team _'good luck'?".

I didn't really want to try with James' name. She still wouldn't admit that she had been making out with him, and always began rambling about that she 'tripped' (_"Into his arms?" "NO! How… _no_… I would… no… never!")_. She would just start again if I mentioned his name.

She nodded in response, and together we made our way out of the great hall and towards the dressing room of the team.

"We'll meet you at the game!" I yelled to Remus before exiting through the doors, "Keep us some good seats!"

The way to the dressing room was unknown to me, so Lily guided us though in a zombie-like state.

When we finally arrived the door was blocked by the mass of girls who had been absent from the Great Hall. I tried to get a glimpse of what they had surrounded but it was simply impossible. So instead I grabbed Lily by the arm and dragged her inside, pushing our way through the girls, who shot us annoyed looks.

"Get out of the way, you ugly dwarf," a tall Ravenclaw hissed at me.

Screw inter-house relationships! (Do I need to tell you that I have a problem with my temper? No? Good…)

"Well, let me suggest you to stick your big, fat head way up your a-"

"Easy there, Hayley!" a well known voice interrupted, before covering my mouth with his hand, "She didn't mean it like that, Lucy,"

"Its Emma, but no worries," the girl broke into a silly grin and began twirling her 'colorless' hair round her finger.

"Get away," the hiss was heard from somewhere in the back, and in a matter of seconds the crowd had moved to create a path for a beautiful dirty blond haired Gryffindor.

Charlotte walked towards us, swinging her hips seductively as she did so, before stopping in front of us.

"Sirius," she addressed him slowly, pronouncing each vocal in it. I began struggling against his hold but it was simply too strong, so I frowned at her instead to show my _great _dislike. She didn't pay me any attention though…

"Charlotte," his tone was measured even indifferent as he said her name, and my heart leapt in joy at the annoyed expression that followed (In your face, Charlotte!). Clearly this wasn't going the way she wanted it to.

"What do you want?" he continued, arching his brow.

"Wish you good luck, silly," she declared while batting her lashes at him.

"Well, thanks, and now; excuse me,"

He let go of me, but only to spin me around to face him; this time he grabbed me by my shoulders.

"What are _you _doing here?" he had brought his face down on an even level with my own as he spoke to me.

"I brought Lily with me," I defended myself lamely.

"And where is she then?"

Good point; she wasn't anywhere near me and I felt how panic began ripping in me. Lily had been completely out of her normal state of mind and what would she do when caught among all these Sirius-loving girls? Hoping that the answer wasn't 'break down' I began searching among the faces of the surrounding girls. But from my current situation –which was: locked in Sirius' grasp (well, that came out the wrong way)- I couldn't get a good look. A thing Sirius realized, too.

"Ladies," he said while re-gathering his full height, "I think it would be better if you left for the pitch now, and if you don't hurry no good seats will be left-"

Much more wasn't needed; the girls began pushing their way out of the room again. Except one, who simply smiled at him as if she was something special.

"Charlotte; you, too." Her mouth popped open and shaped itself into a perfect 'o' as two of the other players began pushing her out of their dressing room.

"Let go of me!" she snapped before storming out of the room furiously.

"Well, that was fun," Sirius grinned, before letting me go.

Lily wasn't hard to find; she was standing in a corner, face to face with James like I had been with Sirius a moment earlier; his hands on her shoulders and their heads on the same level as he spoke – what I guessed was -comforting words to her, in a voice too low for others to here. Only difference was their expressions; her green eyes had singled him out, ignoring everything and everyone around her, as had he. They shared a look of caring and its tenderness was so intense, that it gave me the chills just to look at. And I wasn't the only one; lots of the other players were pretending to be talking or prepping themselves, although they could all be found shooting them glances every now and then. It was cute.

Sadly, they snapped back to attention as one of the players had to go into a coughing fit (thank you very much! *one word: sarcasm*) earning angry glares from Sirius and myself.

"Well, good luck out there," her usual spark had been reignited as she smacked his chest playfully, though some seriousness still could be detected in its very core.

"Sure I will," he grinned at her before she backed out of his grip.

"Aw, come on!" I exclaimed in annoyance, "Just get together already!"

"What?" Lily asked curiously, her forehead frowned.

"You should just- argh, forget it!" I knew it was a lost battle; Lily would never admit her love to James in front of all these people (But maybe if it was just her and me? Hmm… an evil plan is starting to take shape…).

"Well, let's go. The game will be starting in a couple of minutes," I sighed before grabbing her by the arm again, while dragging her towards the door.

"Wait, a moment-" Sirius blocked our path and we were left with no other option than to wait.

"That was it? Nothing else you wanted to do or… say?" he continued.

"Nooo," I trailed off, not knowing how else to answer. What had he expected anyway?

"Nothing? Not a thing at all?"

"No! Seriously; what did you expect?"

"Well, I thought that you may have come to wish me good luck,"Sirius wasn't even insecure while stating this. Oh no, he was actually _smiling _as if it was the most natural thing in the world, which it probably also was, but still; anger flared up inside me like a dying flame suddenly returning to life.

"'Good luck'? Do you really think I- ?" I trailed off, thinking up what I should say; this… this _fool _was actually asking _me _for good luck? "You've just had about hundred girls who have wished you good luck and now you want _me _to be one of them? Sorry, Sirius; but I won't,"

"Hayley, I-" he frowned at me, clearly surprised at how I was 'taking it'.

"Lily, we better go and find Remus," I grabbed her by the arm and pushed Sirius out of our way.

"Hayley!" I heard my name being yelled down the corridor that lead away from the dressing room, but I ignored it and kept my pace.

After we had rounded a corner or two, Lily –who had been struggling ever since we left the dressing room- finally wiggled out of my grip.

"Easy, Hayley!" her red hair looked messy from all the struggling.

"Sorry," I mumbled, not stopping though.

"You were a bit harsh don't you think?" she was close to jogging to keep up with my strides.

"No,"

"Well, I do,"

"Good for you,"

"Hayley," she got a grip on my arm, and spun me around to a halt, "Why didn't you just wish him good luck?"

"Because… Well, I… He's an idiot!" I exclaimed in annoyance, stomping my foot on the hard stone floor, "He thinks he can get _every _girl and it's… Well… He can't!"

"Hayley, I've known him for almost seven years now and believe me; he can,"

"Well, then… I'm not going to be one of them," I mumbled lamely while staring at my own feet.

"Merlin's beard! You like him," I looked up at her exclamation and noticed that her eyes were sparkling with mischief as she smirked at me.

"I do _not!" _I exclaimed though not able to contain a small grin (What the-!).

"You do,"

"Do not,"

"Do, too" she said in a sing-song voice entwining my arm with hers.

"Do not," I retorted still grinning for some really weird and completely unknown reason, as we made our way to the patch.

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**A/N: Hi-ya! Not much to say… it's a bit crappy, I know… but I couldn't really muster anything better… I have had the _biggest _headache all day and just wanna sleep… but you deserved an update first for being the loveliest readers ever! Leave a review and tell me what you think ^_^ See ya!**

**-Marie**


	9. Sirius!

**Hey guys!**

**So I wanna give a special shout-out to 'sugarquills-and-lillies' for always being so supportive of me and my chapters ^_^ It's lovely with a bit of a self-esteem boost at times ;P**

**Anywaaayy; this chapter is written in a bit of a hurry since I'm in the middle of packing and going to bed (Leaving to visit relatives in Germany tomorrow with my dad, and I won't be back before Wednesday again) so the chapter got a bit short, but I simply wanted to post a little update to you guys… simply because you're the best :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!**

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The school had assembled round the patch, taking seats while waiting for the anticipated first game of the season.

The rain fell heavily against the high stands of the Quidditch pitch, creating a harsh noise, which reminded me of drumming, mixed with the soft splashing-sounds of the audience getting soaked; they had all though come to terms with the fact that they simply were going to get wet.

Lily and I found Remus sitting near the rest of the Gryffindor 7th years; Frank and Alice sitting _awfully _close (Love is in the air!), Peter beside a fuming Charlotte, two free chairs followed by Remus. Lily (thank goodness!) took the chair closest to Charlotte, since she probably would get a fit if it was me.

"Where were you?" Remus asked as I sat down beside him.

"Well, wishing James good luck, what else?"

"Nothing," he shrugged but something in his tone told me otherwise; it clearly wasn't just 'nothing'.

I opened my mouth since I wanted to ask him about it furtherer, but quickly closed it again as the high note of a whistle blew all the way round the pitch. Silence fell and at last the only voice that could be heard was the magnified voice of the flying teacher, explaining the rules to each and everyone. Only minutes later the teams soared into the air, already dripping with water, and the balls were released from their cages.

"Gryffindor in possession of the Quaffle. Way to go, Potter!" the voice of a girl commented, her voice magnified, "He's heading for the goals- Uh! A bludger with greetings from Mulciber comes in his way,"

"Who is that?" I had to yell the words, since the cheers of Slytherin were massive.

"Who?" Remus yelled back.

"Well, Mulciber? And that commentary-girl, too?"

"Mulciber is one of Snape's friends; a death-eater you might say," I turned to look at him and noticed that his expression had become grim, the scars on his face seeming clearer and more terrifying than usually. After a second of thoughtful silence he shook he head and a small smile graced his lips, "The 'commentary-girl' is Mary Jordan. Her brother had the job before her –the family is mainly quidditch-freaks- but he left school a few years ago. Heard he had gotten a son, too," **(A/N: Ladies and gentlemen; meet Lee Jordan's aunt… my own creation ;P)**

"Oh, she's a 6th year?"

"Yes,"

I nodded, and let my concentration wander back to the game.

"Avery has gotten the Quaffle. He makes for the goals- dodges Smith and… _scores? _That was a hit straight to the stomach – literally! Gardener seems to be fine though. That foul cheating son of a-"

"Miss Jordan!"

"Oops! Sorry, professor McGonagall. YES! A penalty has been awarded to Gryffindor. Black takes it… he usually does a good jo- He _SCORES!_" The former cheers from Slytherin were nothing compared to the applauding and roars of the Gryffindor's.

All around me girls were screaming his name (and a bit more, too; "_SIRIUS! Marry me!" "I LOVE you!" _just to name a few examples_) _and Lily was busy with happy-dancing beside me as James quickly scored another goal for Gryffindor afterwards.

Goal after goal followed and the Slytherin's had a hard time trying to keep it equal.

The rain made the visibility closer to zero than it had been at any other time during the week (Not that it apparently had any negative effect on our team…), and half of the pitch was simply out of our view. The commentary helped a lot though and worked as guidance for us all;

"Potter dodges another bludger and passes to Black who _scores_! This years Gryffindor team is simply amazing! If they keep it going at this pace, we'll might win the cup this year!"

"I can't believe it!" Lily exclaimed from beside me and I turned to her, cocking my head to the side in a curious gesture, and trying not to laugh at her appearance; her hair looked darker because of its wetness, and her cloth was simply soaked. She looked like a drowned mouse to say it at the least. But her smile seemed to brighten anything else up, "We could win! I can't believe I was nervous about anything… it's going great-"And that was her mistake; she shouldn't have said that.

As it is with luck it had the way of turning when you least expect it, which was exactly at that point.

"Great, Black is in possession again –can I smell 'victory'?- and he heads for the go- NO!"

"What?" I asked confused as the loud and clear voice of Mary suddenly stopped midsentence, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Remus mumbled from beside me, scouting our view which was… well, grey and rainy.

My heart was beating in a painfully fast pace, and it seemed that my ribcage was in danger of bursting open at any moment. My knees began to wobble below me, as the earlier so reassuring voice of Mary returned to inform us;

"I… Black was hit by a blugder. It seemed to have gotten a good hit at his head. He's still flying, though!"a weak feeling of relieve calmed my strained nerves a bit… but only a slightly bit.

Suddenly a figure came into view; the dark hair though plastered tightly around the handsome face features was not to be mistaken; Sirius was flying towards us. But something was wrong. His body seemed to be lulling from one side to the other as he steered his broom -unsurely- through the air. Then it happened; his body got overbalanced and he tumbled of the broom, taking it down with him as he fell down into the invisibility of the mists below.

"_SIRIUS!_" my scream was desperate but not alone, and it soon got mingled with cry-outs of all different kinds all around me. Even Mary Jordan was in chock;

"Oh my God! He fell of his broom… Sirius Black fell of his broom!" the answering cheer from Slytherin was tuned out by my brain and one simple thought remained: _Sirius._

Not thinking, I threw myself past Remus, almost knocking him over as I did so, and rushed towards the stairs. I heard him yell my name, but I didn't turn around.

I took the steps two or even three at a time, twisting my ankles every now and then, but still; I kept my pace, letting my worries for Sirius take over.

What if he was hurt? Well, of course he was hurt! But what if it was like 'really badly' hurt? What if- What if he was dying? Or already dead? He had after all fallen from 'I-don't-know-how-many-yards' and that could never be good.

I tried to withhold the tears of my worries as I let my feet sprint down the stairs, my thoughts still hunted by that one guy; _Sirius._

_

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**A/N: Hellooo again! What did you think? and did you like Mary Jordan? ;P Leave a review and tell and me! Love to hear your opinions and ideas… the best feeling in the world: waking up to an inbox with reviews! ^O^ Well, I'll better head to bed now… LONG LIVE THE WINTER BREAK; off school for a week xD Yay… anywaaayy; See ya!**

**-Mari****e**


	10. Decisions

**Hey Guys!**

**What's up? I've had a real nice trip to Germany by the way, though we had to leave an evening before planned (It had been snowing a lot in the northern parts of Germany and Denmark and more was set to come…) so we decided to leave a bit earlier… What else? I've started on my new job today! Yay! It's as a 'shop-assistant-youth-job-thingy' so basically I just scan people's groceries and take their cash (well, not _literally…_ you get the point) but I don't really know the English term for the job…**

**Oh! I've joined the blossoming community of twitter! You're welcome to follow me if you like ^_^ It's mostly be about my fanfics (and other projects, too) so basically; it's the perfect way for me to tell you the status of my story or share ideas with you! ;P You can follow me on: Mari605i**

**Anywaaayy; enough about me… here's the next chapter; it's a bit short but that's simply because it fitted better that way and my inspiration slipped up midway -.-'… soooo here we are! ;D**

**By the way; it's nice to know that you all liked Lee's aunt ;P**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review**

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Blackness; it had consumed me entirely with its cooling numbness. It was quite nice – comfortable, even. I wasn't connected to anything; no surroundings, no feelings or other bindings. But it didn't last for long. Mere second later, pain flared in my arm and skull. It burned white-hot, and I felt as the flames licked my skin, the touch of their tongues leaving it burning and sizzling. I wanted to scream out in pain but I couldn't; my voice seemed non-existent, like a memory from a long forgotten past.

The pain continued growing until it reached its peak; my whole being – body and mind – seemed to be lit and burning brighter than any bonfire seen to mankind. It was excruciating. But then something seemed to relieve the pain. It felt like a blanket had been wrapped around me, and as it choked the fires, my surroundings returned.

The crash was still loud in my ears; the splintering and the harsh noise of something hitting wet ground. It took me a few seconds to realize that _I _had been the 'something' that had hit the wet Quidditch Patch, and the splintering had probably been my- oh, no!

I sat up in an instant, as panic gripped me. The dulled pain from earlier blazed up to new glory and I screamed as it hit me head on.

The short glimpse of the hospital wing and a pale face quickly disappeared as blackness once again took hold of me.

…

When I gained consciousness again, the pain had gone from my body. I decided to try looking once more, though without moving too much this time.

I slowly opened my eyes and squinted at the bright light of the well known hospital wing. I had been there lots of times before; when James had broken his nose during a pretty rough session of quidditch in our 4th year, or one of the many times when Remus had been a patient because of his – self-inflicted – wounds. But still I had never been admitted there myself – I'd been lucky, I guess. But apparently my luck had slipped up…

My eyes, finally adjusted to the light, quickly focused on a somewhat blurred face. It wasn't hard to tell who it was though; the pale face, dark curls and brown eyes gave her straight away.

"Hayley Thorne," my voice seemed weak and faint, and I found myself hoping that she could recognize it, "What owes me the pleasure?"

She gasped as if I've got her off guard, and something around my hand squeezed (Was she holding it?).

"How are you?" she whispered, her eyes seeming huge as they examined my – surely – poor appearance.

"Better than ever," I replied cockily, trying to smirk but as the pain started to return, I quickly wrote it off as a 'no go'. I felt outright miserable; my body felt sore and beat up – My whole body felt like one huge bruise (well, except for my hand, which was locked tightly in Hayley's soothing grip… maybe my luck hadn't slipped up entirely just yet…).

"You're an idiot," her tone was bold and still as honest as ever.

"But I'm the best-looking idiot," she rolled her eyes at my comment and I decided to continue in the same playfully manner, "where's your hot nurse costume?"

Not good; she instantly let go my hand and scowled at me in annoyance.

"Why do you do that?"

"What?" I asked, batting my lashes innocently at her, "being a charming gentleman as always?"

"Being a pervert and a jerk!" she snapped, "we could be friends, you know?"

I weighed the word; friends? With a girl? That would be a first…

"Let me think about it," I decided, and turned to a more serious topic, "Where's my broom?"

"What?" again she was caught off-guard by my question.

"My broom," I repeated slowly (just to mock her a bit more of course), "I heard splintering as I crashed,"

"Oh. Sirius, that wasn't your broom,"

"What was it the-" but just before I could finish my sentence, another voice interrupted.

"That was your _arm, _Mr. Black,"

I turned my head towards the doors of the room as McGonagall came striding towards Hayley and myself. Her face was set in its usual strict manner, but something about it seemed to soften as her eyes settled themselves on me.

"My arm?" I questioned her. Surely it couldn't have been my _arm._ That would have been extremely painfully and-

"It was," Madam Pomfrey reassured as she came walked towards my bed, a flask of skelegro in her hands. I had heard enough horror stories from my friends to know that it felt like going through hell and back again, when your bones had to re-grow.

"Who won then?" my mouth formed the question before I even thought of it; I had been busy shooting hateful glances at the flask in the school-nurse's hands.

"We did," Hayley replied with a little smile.

"That's good,"

"And now; No more talking!" Madam Pomfrey declared resolutely, "Mr. Black needs rest,"

"All right, Poppy, I was only here to make sure that Mr. Black was getting along fine, anyway, which he clearly is," McGonagall turned to look at Hayley, "Miss Thorne?"

"Could I perhaps stay?" the question was barely a whisper but it was loud enough for us all to hear.

I couldn't help smiling; she actually wanted to stay with me (What's going on? I shouldn't be so happy about that… should I?).

After a second of deep thought McGonagall turned towards Madam Pomfrey, who nodded curtly.

"You are allowed to stay, Miss Thorne, but only if you'll let Mr. Black get some well deserved rest,"

"Of course! I won't bother him in anyway," she looked almost relieved as she replied McGonagall, her words spoken in a rush.

Professor McGonagall left the Hospital Wing after wishing us all a nice evening (Apparently, more than five hours had already passed since the game… and I had spent most of them unconscious). Luckily I only had to take a very small dose of the skelegro since the bone in my arm _only _splintered – Not that it hurt any less.

In a manner of minutes Hayley and I were left alone, while Madam Pomfrey went into her office to spend the night.

The lights were dimmed and the hospital wing lay in what seemed close to complete darkness. The pain from the skelegro began knocking me unconscious every now and then, and I found myself clinging unto Hayley's hands that had grabbed mine again.

As I drifted between the different kinds of blackness – one of pain to one of… well, Hayley and the hospital wing – I realized something. Something that was bad… very bad; I was _grateful _that Hayley was sitting beside me, holding my hand, and I was _happy _about it, too_. _It was as if I almost welcomed the pain, because I knew that it meant Hayley would be near me.

That could never mean anything good…

But as I realized this I also made a decision; the decision between being friends and… more.

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**A/N: Hi again! That was the 10th chapter! Wow! Thanks for the support guys… and no need to worry; I have lots of chapter ideas yet to come ;P Who wanna see some Remus/Hayley/Sirius-drama? It's coming up soon! So there's not much to say about this chapter… it's was a short 'impulse-of-the-moment-idea' so tell me what you think… REVIEW! ;D See ya!**

**-Marie**


	11. Being Ticklish

**Hey Guys! How are you? Well, I hope… personally I've been sick the last couple of days (huge bummer) but I'm on my way back to health again ;) Yay! And by the way; notice that this chapter is a bit longer again! :D**

**Anyway; there's not much to tell… there'll be a little poll at the end of this chapter, so PLEASE READ THE LAST AUTHOR NOTE! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!

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The faint twittering of birds woke me from an uneasy sleep. I had had nightmares lately about how Sirius had fallen of his broom. It wasn't really the fact that he 'fell' that scared me (though of course I was) but more that crucial moment were I didn't knew what had happened to him. Was he dead? Was he fatally injured? All these scenarios had been manipulated into horrific dreams by my apparently psychotic brain.

I lifted my head off the white sheets of the hospital bed; I had fallen asleep, while watching over him and my head had lulled unto his bed throughout the night it seemed.

The soft light of the early morning was shining through the large windows of the hospital wing, bathing all beds and other furniture in a red glow. A light amount of snow had dropped during the night, and it seemed that the winter was coming sooner than usual. For a second I just stared at the breathtaking surroundings outside the windows; the snow was just the right amount to cover the grass, and the school grounds looked as if they had been emitted by a large white duvet, the sun radiating of it, making it glitter in orange.

"Good morning, Beautiful," his voice already sounded healthier and stronger than it had the evening before.

"Good morning, Honey," I answered in our usual playful banter, turning to him; he was as good-looking as always as he grinned at me, the glint in his eyes reignited.

"I like the tone of that,"

"No wonder," I rolled my eyes at him, "Half of the school calls you that,"

"But _you_ don't," his grin had subsided as his gray eyes held mine in a suddenly very intense gaze that felt like it was creeping up under my skin. I felt how my breath got caught in my throat and my heart fluttered like the wings of a small bird.

"Did you just catch your breath?" his tone was back to being funny and playful as the grin from seconds earlier reappeared on his face.

"No, I didn't," why should I please him and embarrass by telling him I did? Lying seemed like a better offer.

"Yes, you did,"

"No, I did _not!_"

"I've still got it," he sighed happily while winking at me.

"You're _unbelievable_," I exclaimed hotly, though I didn't succeed in hiding a tiny smile.

"I know I am, and admit it or not; you love it,"

"I think I choose… not,"

The hour's ticked away feeling like nothing but mere minutes to us as we kept teasing each other. It was nice to know that he was all right and in a good mood without much pain, though he did wince a little every now and then when he moved his arm.

Noon quickly arrived and with it did our friends; Lily, James and Remus, bringing greetings from our fellow Gryffindors.

"Alice and Frank really wanted to come but they had to do some kind of essay, I think," Lily explained while James passed us stolen buns and muffins from breakfast. I hadn't even realized how hungry I had been, and began swallowing big chunks of the food, while listening to our friends – and their gossip…

"They're just planning to have some kind of make-out session in the library," James added in a low tone.

"Alice wouldn't do that," Lily argued.

"Nah, you're right. Then they're probably just vowing each other eternal love and such things, which reminds me, Lily, have you thought about the trip-"

"How is your arm, Sirius?" Lily quickly interrupted, earning an amused glance from James.

"Um, better," Sirius answered his mouth filled with a bun.

"And you, Hayley?"

"I'm fine," I answered indifferently, "I wasn't the one injured after all,"

"Yes, but you _did _stay here an awfully long-"

"What is this?" the displeasured voice of Madam Pomfrey injected. She came striding towards us from her office, her face set in a strict manner, "I only allowed Miss Thorne to stay; not half of Gryffindor tower!"

"Really, it's no problem," Sirius tried but he was being simply ignored by the school nurse.

"Out!" she said, pushing Lily and the others towards the door, "Mr. Black needs immediate rest. You too, Miss Thorne,"

"But-" it was to no use though; Madam Pomfrey practically kicked me out of the room ignoring all protests from either Sirius or me.

I was left standing outside the double doors of the hospital wing, as they were being closed with much force by the aggravated Madam Pomfrey. Lily shot me a small apologetic smile, while James was talking to Remus in a hushed voice.

"Sorry?" Lily tried, but I decided to shrug it off. It wasn't their fault anyway; Madam Pomfrey would probably have kicked me out sooner or later.

"No harm done," I told her and she seemed to relax a bit, "Do you have any plans for the day?"

For a moment it almost seemed that she was about to look over her shoulder and at James, but she ended up not doing so – probably realizing how obvious it would have been (as if we all hadn't already figured it out…).

"No," she shook her head from side to side as she replied, "you?"

"Nope. Seems like it's going to be a long day of hanging out…"

…

"You should have seen McGonagall - She had a complete _fit_!" Lily exclaimed.

"She really did," James nodded, seated in the armchair beside Lily's, "I don't even wanna know what went through Mulciber's head as he saw McGonagall striding towards him – Nostrils flaring and eyes lightening,"

"Wait, Mulciber was the one who hit Sirius?" I asked. No one had actually briefed me about what happened after I had left the game yet, and I was still as dumb about the whole affair than I had been before it.

"Yeah. He's the only one who actually _knows _how to hit a bludger the right way. The other guy – I think his name is Stanley – he's only on the team to match up with the criteria's,"

"Guess they'll have a pretty crappy season then," Frank announced from his seat nearest the fireside in our common room; Alice (of course) sitting close by.

"What do you mean?" I was sitting cross-legged in the love seat, though I could easily have laid down since I had it all to myself, but I knew that that the much dreaded tiredness simply would get the better of me if I did.

"Well, McGonagall had a heated discussion with Slughorn about Mulciber's punishment; she wanted to ban him completely from quidditch and all Hogsmeade trips, but Slughorn thought it would be way too harsh-"

"It would be justified!"

"Yes, but you know Slughorn; he may not seem like it but he can be pretty stubborn-"

"So can McGonagall,"

"Anyway, he ended up getting banned from quidditch from now on and until New Years Eve has passed. On top of that he also got detentions from now and until Easter with professor McGonagall,"

"Well, that's the least they could give him," I muttered, but even though I'd rather seen him banned altogether from school, I was still satisfied that he at least had gotten some kind of punishment.

Evening had fallen and we practically just stayed seated in the Gryffindor common room, while chatting about everything that came to mind. Hours may have ticked by without us noticing, not that it would have mattered much anyway; the atmosphere was relaxed and chilled as we laughed our hearts off over old memories and the latest gossip. Of course Alice and Franck weren't spared either, along with James and Lily. The latter were more fun to tease though, since Lily still denied any kind of relationship between herself and James;

"We're not together!" She exclaimed.

"Come on! We know you are," I retorted once again, while the surrounding crowd consisting of our friends (and her lover boy) sniggered.

"But-"

"You don't stand a chance,"

"But I-"

"What's going on here?" an extra person had joined in on the conversation, though he wasn't sitting anywhere near us.

I turned round to try and find the source of this well-known voice, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I could hear you all the way from the hospital wing, you know," he continued, "and yeah, Hayley's right; you're definitely hooking up with Prongs,"

Suddenly he emerged out of the shadows near the portrait hole; perfectly healthy looking, though he seemed weary. I smiled at him as James, Remus and Peter got up to greet their best friend, the others giving him 'welcome back's and 'you look well's.

"The Marauders are reunited," James declared proudly as he swung his arm around Sirius' shoulder in a brotherly manner.

"As if they would ever split," Sirius grinned, though Peter seemed to twinge oddly at that. I shot him a confused frown, but he just smiled – quite nervously though – back at me. Leaving the matter with Peter behind me, I returned my attention to Sirius who was lowering himself unto the love seat beside me- wait, what?

"What are you doing?" I asked him, making him stop in the act of 'sitting down'.

"What do you mean?" he replied frowning lightly with a smile grazing his lips.

"You're sitting down. Here?"

"You're scared that you won't be able to control your need for me?" he teased playfully, before plunging into the soft cushions of the two-man couch.

"_No. _What need? Talking about yourself again?"

"You can be such a pain at times," he sighed though it was clear from his tone that he hadn't really meant it.

"Let me see; what was it you told me this morning? 'I know I am, and admit it or not; you love it,'"

"And if I recall it proper you replied with 'I think I choose… not'" he grinned as we held each other's gaze for a second or two, though quickly breaking it as we noticed the quietness around us.

I turned my body towards him and stretched my legs so they were sprawled over the couch, my feet resting in his lap.

"It's your luck you're not that tall," he laughed as he gripped my right foot, making me squeal, "or else I couldn't give you this amazing foot massage,"

I simply stared at him, my mouth popped open into an o-shape, as he began massaging my foot. I began squirming like crazy as his hand caressed my foot in a soothing way, the laughter escaping loudly from me.

"St-op!" I giggled hysterically and he quickly added two and two together;

"You're ticklish?" he laughed although he kept massaging.

"Ye-ye-yes!" I started wildly kicking into the air with my other leg, "Co-could y-you maybe s-s-TOP,"

"Top?"

"STOP!" I practically yelled at him, but he kept going, "Yo-you're un-un-beliv-able!"

"I know," he grinned and continued his torturing.

Our friends simply rolled their eyes before continuing to more urgent matters (like the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade the following weekend)… except one though.

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**A/N: Hi again! So that was the 11th chapter… what did you think? In the next one they'll be going to Hogsmeade, and on that occasion (and to celebrate the last chapter, which was the 10th!) I would like to ask you a question;**

**Who should get the most romantic action while in Hogsmeade?****  
The contestants are Alice/Frank, Lily/James and (of course) Hayley/Sirius… who shall it be? ****You decide… tell me in a review or PM…**

**Remember to review, lovelies! ;D See ya!**

**-Marie**


	12. A Romance In Hogsmeade

**Hey guys! So it's close to past midnight where I live... and also way past my bedtime with school tomorrow ;P But I decided to finish this first ;) Thanks for all the 'Hayley/Sirius' support in last chapters poll; I still can't believe it! They won with a mass of votes... but take a breath all Lily and James fans; there'll be something for you too ;D**

**Anywaaayy; Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!

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**

The following week was spent in eager anticipation about the Hogsmeade trip, which had been set to happen Sunday. Homework was taken more leisurely and the students' lack of attention in class caused several teaches to have a fit – not that the students actually cared a lot about that matter.

During the week I came to notice that Sirius behaved much too quietly; he spoke with close to no one except Remus and even those conversations were always kept 'secret', meaning that they would usually go away for a chat. For some weird reason this bothered me; Sirius running off with Remus and not James (It generally seemed that he especially avoided James and Lily). I didn't even know what they were talking about or occupying their time with; I was simply being left outside of their group, and since Lily really hadn't noticed any of this she wouldn't even gush about it with me (Huge bummer!). Apparently her mind was all too filled by her 'head-girl'-duties... As if.

By Thursday I decided to confront Sirius about his whole secret-keeping;

"What are you planning?"

"Huh?" he was caught off-caught while chewing his breakfast carefully; Lily, James and our other friends had already left for the Gryffindor tower to grab the last pair of things before class. Sirius, Remus and I were left sitting at the long dining table.

"You two have been hiding something for all week," I explained, "I wanna know what?"

"Hales, it's nothing you should worry about," Remus informed me; as usual he sat beside me, while Sirius faced us.

"Remus is right," Sirius nodded before propping more food into his mouth.

"I'm not stupid! And I want to know what you're planning. I don't like being left out."

"You're not really being left out of anything though," Remus quickly stated.

"You're not helping with 'really'."

"At all?"

"Too late," he rolled his eyes at me as I smiled teasingly at them both, "I want to be included."

Remus caught Sirius' eye and it seemed that they were almost conversing through it; eyes widening, narrowing, and rolling and so on – the whole ordeal to be honest. This went on for about a minute. I did my best meanwhile not to break out laughing at some of their funny expressions.

"Okay," he sighed at last, "Sirius, fill her in."

"Finally," I breathed before I grabbed the muffin that Sirius had been holding in his hands during their 'conversation', using the words, "I'll better take that."

"That was my muffin," he looked at me with huge disbelieving eyes as I began picking bits of it and eating them.

"Well, now it's mine," I munched happily.

"But-"

"No."

"But that-"

"_No_, it's mine," he reached out for it and I had to lift it high above my own head so he wouldn't get into its reach.

"Really guys?" Remus sighed beside us and Sirius seemed to finally give up at that point.

"Listen up, Hayley," he smiled crookedly at me, "You know our lovebirds? We're planning on making them official."

I waited to see if he had more to tell, but he just kept perfectly silent after that.

"You mean you want Lily and James to go... public?"

"Sssh!" Sirius hissed at me, while Remus laughed silently under his breath, "Not so loud!"

"Is he getting paranoid?" I directed the question to Remus who shrugged in response.

"I'm not getting paranoid!" Sirius defended sharply, "I'm just realistic; if my master-plan leak, I'll blame you."

"Hey! It's not- it _wouldn't_ be my fault. You weren't very specific, just so you know it."

"Because I _can't _be," he rolled his eyes mockingly at me, as if he was only stating the obvious, "Anyway; are you in?"

"I- what?"

"He wants to know if you wanna participate in his 'master-plan'... though it'll probably fail," Remus smiled.

"Ha ha very funny, Moony," then he turned his attention back on me, "So Hayley; you're in?"

"Ehm..." Did I really wanna do this? Hell yes, "I'm in."

"Well, welcome on the team then," Sirius almost beamed before declaring proudly; "This Sunday plan 'Get-Lily-and-James-to-admit-their-relationship-and-get-going-at-planning-their-wedding' will be set into action!"

"You really need to shorten that, mate," Remus sighed, the corners of his mouth twisting upwards as he did so.

...

"So Lily; any specific plans?" I asked her as we were walking from Defence Against the Dark Arts and towards Transfiguration.

"What are you referring to?" she arched her eyebrow, probably picking up on the little catch in my tone.

"Oh, just – you know – Hogsmeade?"

"No, I haven't gotten any plans for the trip. I think I'll just stay here and read a bit; our History of Magic assignment is due Monday and-"

"And you've already finished it; haven't you?" I asked her with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Well... there's still a lot of revising to do!" Typical Lily.

"Then it's official; you're going with Remus and me to Hogsmeade!" I declared.

"But-"

"No,"

" B-"

"No but's!" why were people always trying to use the 'but'-thing on me? It wasn't going to work (I'm _way _too stubborn for that), "Just say yes! Have a little fun."

We went on for minutes after that without saying the slightest to each other. When we reached the classroom though, she turned to me and said, "Okay."

Step one of plan 'Get-Lily-and-James-to-' oh as if I was going to repeat all that! Anyway; step one successfully accomplished.

...

"I really hope this is going to work."

Remus and I were sitting alone in the common room, waiting for Lily to exit the dorms. All others above the age restriction had already left for Hogsmeade with the exception of a small group of fifth years, who had been occupying the room earlier... before I had chased them away (what? We couldn't exactly talk 'strategy' with them being so close at hand). Remus had just shaken his head at my behaviour before taking a seat close to the roaring fireplace. I followed his example by taking a seat in my 'usual spot' as I liked to refer to it; the loveseat.

"Of course is it going to work," Remus replied to my earlier statement.

"And how would you know? Is this something he does all the time?" 'he' meaning Sirius.

"Except some spectacular pranks? No; not that I know of," he smiled before adding, "Have a little faith in him, Hayley. He's smarter than you'd think."

"That may be, but if this fails and Lily finds out; I'm dead!" just to think it make me shudder. I hadn't yet forgotten the look Lily had shot James on the train to Hogwarts or the look she gave Charlotte in the first night of the school year; I did not want to experience that live.

At that moment the red-head exited through the door to the dorms and greeted us.

"You look beautiful, Lily," Remus complimented her politely. Not that he was lying or anything;

During Hogsmeade trips we were 'allowed' to wear everyday clothes and so did Lily; a pair of dark skinny jeans combined with a cute grey pinafore dress on top of a thin black sweather, her hair set in wavy curls that fell elegantly round her shoulders. She looked stunning!

I couldn't help but suspect that she may have heard about our plan, but I quickly abandoned the thought and tried to maintain my concentration on the task before us.

"He's right," I agreed, grinning, "You look absolutely _smoking_!"

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"Well, then; let's go."

The road to Hogsmeade was crowded with pupils; all round us people were either on their way to the little town or already heading back to the castle, chattering in small groups.

The weather was fine for a mid-November day. The sun wasn't shining but had hidden itself behind a mass cover of clouds, its rays barely able to penetrate these. The wind was pretty easy-going though; you weren't at any risk of getting blown away by a tornado to the land of Oz or any of the kind ('The Wizard of Oz' is my favourite movie! What else can I say? Oh! 'Somewhere over the rainbow! Way up high; there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby!').

When we arrived to the town, we found it to be buzzing with life; students of all ages eager purchase sweets, parchments and the such mixed themselves with the busy townsfolk who did their best to live up to the demands given.

We went into all the necessary shops, which included Zonko's and Honeydukes. I used lots of Galleons in the latter (what can I say? I have a sweet tooth... a lot of them in fact).

We were on our way to The Three Broomsticks as it happened; my ankle snapped away under me, like a twig you've finally managed to break. I screamed out as I was hit by the sudden pain, making heads all round us turn in my direction before they quickly continued their shopping.

Remus was at my side in less than a second, catching me before I managed to fall over completely.

"What happened?" he asked with much concern, his arm wrapped round my waist to keep me steady.

"I think- I think my ankle broke or – ouch! – something," I winced as the pain kept shooting up from my injured foot.

"I could try using a healing spell?" Lily suggested, already fishing her wand out of her green jacket. I quickly shook my head from side to side; not the best idea. Everything started to spin round me as the pain began to unite with the newly formed dizziness.

"No," I told her sternly, "I know you're fantastic with spells, Lily, but- but I would really like to keep my leg for a while yet."

Lily frowned at the –slightly insulting – rejection, and I instantly felt my bad conscience speaking to me.

"She didn't mean that," Remus explained her comfortingly (meet my conscience!), "But I'll better take her to the hospital wing. You can get us a table meanwhile. We'll meet you in The Three Broomsticks in about 30 minutes!" He had already begun walking – dragging me along, I may ad – and yelled the last part over his shoulder.

"Good acting," he said. I wasn't able to see it since my head rested on his shoulder but I could simply _hear_ him smile.

"Yeah; acting."

"You did act, didn't you?"

"Just – ouch! – get me to Madam Pomfrey."

"You know you only had to 'act' like you broke your ankle?" he was on the verge on laughing and I couldn't really blame him; how stupid did you have to be, to actually go ahead and break your ankle by accident when you only had to fake it?

"You're such a klutz, Hales," he finally bursted and began to laugh his head off.

Even though I hated myself for being so clumsy I also found myself enjoying the sound of his laughter; it was a rare phenomenon to catch Remus laughing this much. So for once I praised my clumsiness.

...

Precisely 29 minutes later we were – once again – walking though Hogsmeade, when Sirius ran up to us.

"Hey guys!" he greeted us with a wicked glint in his eye, "Did it go well?"

Remus instantly began sniggering beside me causing Sirius to shoot him a questioning look.

"It went fine," I informed him before Remus had a chance to tell him about the incident with my foot, "And you?"

"Went perfectly well," he smirked proudly, "They'll be hooking up as we speak."

We continued our steady pace until we reached the planned destination; The Three Broomsticks. At the current moment Lily and James would have found themselves to have been left by their individual company and would therefore take a seat at the same table to 'chat' (ad a eyebrow-wiggling-Sirius-Black and you'll get the point... if not; 'chat' equals what we call snogging).

And now to the grand finale; the entrance of Remus, Sirius and I. By the way; that plan was al Sirius'.

We entered the popular pub, which was crowded with students, teachers and the usual townsfolk. It took its time to find the 'lovebirds' who in fact had seated themselves at the same table. We hid behind a group of sixth years, who shot us some weird glances, while we ducked behind them and started whispering; not that whispering actually was necessary, since the loud voice of a very drunk teacher could be heard screaming at the top of his lungs.

"What now?" I asked the guys as we all peeked round the sixth years and at our friends.

"Wait for it," Sirius muttered in response, seeming sure of himself, though if it was to me or him he talked I couldn't say.

And then it happened; James slowly leaned in to give her a-

"Ha!" Sirius exclaimed jumping out from our hideout, "I knew it!"

"Way to kill it, Sirius," I rolled my eyes at him, but he seemed too busy with the couple in front of us.

"You two are together!" he continued eagerly looking like a mad man as he pointed from one to the other.

Instead of answering, they just looked at each other.

"Are we?" James asked her, not even able to hide his foolish grin.

"Sort of," she smiled back before turning away from him.

"Lily," he said and she turned back to him, only so he could kiss her in front of us.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked her afterwards, nervousness evident in his voice.

"Yes," she nodded eagerly before they once more began kissing each other.

...

"So they're together now?" I asked Sirius that evening.

Every Gryffindor had already gone to bed or at least retracted to their dorms, leaving me and Sirius to ourselves in common room.

After the huge 'will you be my girlfriend'-incident earlier that day, we had spend the rest of it in Hogsmeade before returning to a delicious meal at the castle.

"Guess so," he shrugged indifferent.

"Crap!" I exclaimed annoyed.

"What is?"

"That they're together! Of course it's cute and I love them both, but that means we're surrounded by lovesick fools and couples like them and Alice and Frank!" I had never given this much thought – or any to be completely honest. The idea of Lily and James actually going public had seemed too far off to actual become true and now they were a bloody couple!

"I'm not the only one then," he laughed under his breath, "I can easily follow your train of thought believe me. But they deserve each other-"

"I know," I sighed, "No matter how painful it will be to be surrounded by them 24/7."

"And it'll be worse on you anyway," he continued, a smirk growing on his features, "It'll mean you're the only seventh year Gryffindor girl who's single."

"No, I'm not! There's Charlotte," in the moment I said her name I also remembered that she had the same reputation as Sirius; the girl everyone thirsted for, "or not."

"You see?" he laughed as realization had dawned on me, "And you don't seem to be the date-type either-"

"I can date if I want to," I defended myself. Under no circumstances was I going to back down under now.

"And who would this poor fellow be?" all out of a sudden his tone changed into a very peculiar one, and once more realization hit me.

"You!"

"What?"

"No, not like that!" I quickly explained before continuing, "You wanna date me!"

"Ha ha; no," he told me very seriously, but I wouldn't let go that easily.

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Seriously?" he asked and he suddenly seemed to be close to bursting from laughter.

"Yes!" I grinned.

"_Fine!_" he resigned at last.

"Ye- what?"

"Hayley Thorne; go out with me?" he asked me with a way to charming crooked smile.

"Um..."

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**A/N: Hi again! I hope you like it... Leave a review and tell me what you think of it; did it suck too much? ;D Anywaaayy; I'll head to bed now ;) See ya!**

**-Marie**


	13. Finding The Right Answers

**Hi y'all! How is it going? So this is one of those really overdue updates, but I'm doing my best; believe me ;D**  
**Anyway; enjoy this little chappie of mine and review... I'll write a new one to you as quick as possible ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review**

* * *

"I can't believe you actually said yes!" I cheered at the redhead in front of me.

"I shouldn't have done that," she mumbled while chewing her lip, "Do you think I could-"

"No," I told her firmly, "You're not breaking up with him."

"Well, I wasn't going to say _break-up_-"

"What then?"

"Pausing?" she smiled innocently at me.

"Lily Evans! Be nice to him," I said, not able to keep the grin off my face as I added, "He _looooves _you."

"Shut up, Hayley!" she yelled - though half-laughing - before throwing her pillow at me, hitting me straight in the face causing me to topple backwards on my bed.

We were sitting in our dorm as the only ones; Charlotte was off snogging some Ravenclaw and Alice was – once again – in the library... with Frank you may add.

Another pretty uneventful day had almost passed as twilight was falling outside the castle windows. Well, with the exception of the blossoming rumour of Lily and James' relationship going on. There's no gossip like Hogwarts gossip.

We both sat in our individual beds, which luckily were standing right next to each other, passing our time by talking about... stuff.

"Just admit it; he loves you and you love him," another pillow hit my face and threw me back over, before I had even sat up straight again, "Would you stop doing that!"

"No!" she told me stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Come on, Lils; just admit it," luckily for me she was out of ammo.

She shook her head in response, a tiny blush working its way up into her cheeks.

"It doesn't hurt to say it, you know," I tried baiting her, but she just shook her head – from left to right to left – again.

"Poor James; his girlfriend can't even say that she loves him."

"Hayley; seriously?" she rolled her eyes at me, but her smile never faltered.

"I'm always serious."

"Always..." she mumbled the last part barely audible for any – in this case; me – to hear. I asked her to repeat it.

"Always with him you mean," she stared guiltily out the window behind me, avoiding direct eye contact, and I noticed how she was trying very hard not to burst into laughter.

"I'm _not_!" I yelled knowing that she had meant Sirius (The serious/Sirius-jokes never had an end around here) and threw her pillow, playfully, back at her; headshot!

"Ouch!"

"It doesn't feel so splendid, huh?"

"Payback time, Thorne!" Lily screeched before jumping out of her bed, pillow in her grip as she began hitting me repeatedly with it. I laughingly grabbed my own and started to hit back.

Feathers from the pillows flew loftily through the air, bearing some kind of resemblance to snow as it fell white and soundlessly to the floor of the room. We screamed in joy and laughed until both our stomachs ached painfully, though still we kept going.

At last we both lay sprawled – face upwards and head to head - on the floor, pillows discarded and with feathers struck in our hair. We gasped for air, while the last fits of giggles died away leaving the room completely silent.

"He asked me out," I told her suddenly as the quietness had grown so intense it almost seemed to weigh down on me.

"What?" she said in a dazed sort of voice.

"Sirius; he asked me out."

"_What!" _she sat up turning to get a better look on me, "He did what?"

"He asked me out," I whispered already regretting the fact that I had told her; why hadn't I seen this coming?

"When? Wait; what did _you _say?"

"Last night," I answered feeling the butterflies go nuts once again like every other time I've either talked about him or to him during the day, "After you all went to bed."

"But what did you answer?" an eager glint of anticipation could be seen in her green eyes.

"I... I asked for more time."

"You did _WHAT!_" the sight was truly priceless; Lily's mouth popped open and her eyes widened almost horrified by my given answer (What was _her _problem?). I had to do my best not to start laughing all over again – my stomach was still sore from the earlier session.

"Why did you do that?" she continued and I couldn't help frowning confused at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you say yes?"

"Why should I do that?"

"Because he _likes _you!" she almost yelled at me making me jump (Well, as much as you can while lying down, you know).

"Where do you get that from?" I asked, once again close to laughter; the idea that Sirius might _like _me seemed hilariously funny and unreal to me. He could have anyone... so why me?

"Haven't you noticed it?" Lily asked me, before quickly continuing, "He hasn't been with anyone this year. At all! And that is pretty impressive for his standards, considering he snogged three girls on the way to Hogwarts last year."

"And why is that connected to me? Maybe he was just tired of it and decided to try something new," I couldn't follow her at all. If Sirius felt anything towards me – it wasn't much more than _care. _I was his best friend's best friend (Wow... did that only sound confusing to me?).

"Hayley, are you sure you're not blond under all those curls," she grinned while ruffling my hair a bit. "He wouldn't just change so rapid over a single summer. He's Sirius Black; Hogwarts biggest man-whore. Believe me; he's falling for you. Why else would he be asking you out?"

"Well, that's easy; I mean-" but it turned out not being so easy. I started to get her point – slowly but surely – and I could see the logic in it. Why _would _he have asked me out if he didn't feel anything? "Merlin's beard!" I exclaimed as it finally sank in.

Sirius Black _liked _me. Sirius Black liked _me. _And apparently quite a lot since he... oh boy, was I in trouble.

I tried stammering something, but I had no idea what to say. I felt as if lighting had struck me and left me cleaved in two; the part that was horrified by this discovery and the part that secretly cherished it...

What- no! No cherishing! Nope! Not at all! Forget it; but I couldn't... or wouldn't?

"Hayley?" Lily's gentle voice broke through my confusion – or tried to at least, "Are you okay?"

I couldn't have _tamed_ Sirius Black... he wasn't a dog or so afterall.

"Hayley!" this time she shook me back to reality, and my eyes focused themselves on her face, green eyes piercing me.

"I know what to answer," I told her, my mind already wandering again.

"Okay, then you should go and tell him; now."

I nodded and got – very slowly it seemed – to my feet and started walking.

I found the common room empty – or so I thought. It took me a moment or two to locate the figure of Sirius hidden by the shadows of the corner he sat in. To my own big surprise I found him reading a book (Never really saw him as the bookish type).

"Is it good?" I asked him.

He looked up from his book and shot me a small smile, before replying, "Very good, yes."

"May I see?" I stretched my hand towards him and he handed it to me.

Under closer examination I discovered – again; much to my surprise – that it was one of my favourite books, "'A Tale of Two Cities'? Are you kidding me?"

"Why? You shouldn't judge it too harshly, Hales. It may be old but it's good."

"I know. It's... it's actually one of my favourites," first then I realized he'd used Remus' usual nickname for me, "Did you just call me 'Hales'?"

"Yeah," he seemed almost embarrassed to admit and quickly continued," Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. I'm just not used to hear it from others," I smiled before adding, "But I like it."

He shot me another smile, before the awkward silence took over. You know, the kind of awkward silence when both people in the room know they have things to discuss, but don't really wanna face it. They just shuffle with their feet, avoiding eye contact though glancing at each other from time to time. It was t_hat_ kind of awkward silence.

It felt like hours passed and we just stood there, ignoring it altogether, as the moon rose ever so slowly outside the huge windows. At last I decided to speak up; we couldn't stay there all night after all.

"No," I blurted out. Great way to start a conversation, right?

"What?" Sirius frowned at me, clearly confused by the sudden... 'conversation'? If that could even do it.

"Ican'tgooutwithyou," I once again blurted out. Why can't I make any sense?

"You- what?" he chuckled lightly, still seeming very confused.

"I can't go out with you, Sirius," I almost whispered the words, as if it was our own secret, which – I guess – it also kinda was.

"Why?" he asked, the chuckles from earlier already died out.

"It wouldn't be right-" I tried but he interrupted me.

"According to who?"

"To me. To us. To everyone."

"What has 'everyone' to do with us," he said, sounding a bit on edge.

"Sirius, I'm your best friend's best friend," after a single look at him I added with a small grin (simply trying to lighten the mood, you know), "Wow, it didn't just sound confusing in my head then."

"No, it didn't," he agreed shaking his head a bit from side to side. You could already sense the smile forming on his lips though, and I had to admit it cheered me up. He wasn't _that _mad with me after all.

"Friends?" I suggested matter-of-factly, though hoping for a yes.

He looked thoughtful for awhile, almost as if he tasted the word, trying to figure out what to decide. After a few seconds in deep thought he shot me a dazzling smile.

"Sure, Hales."

You know people always say 'it was as if a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders'? I always thought it was just metaphorical meant, but in that moment I realised it wasn't. It literally felt as if I had been walking around with two massive flour bags on each shoulder, but now by answering the way he did, they suddenly grew wings and flew off (Wait; flying flour bags? With wings? Where did _that _come from?).

"Okay... buddy," I grinned at him teasingly.

"Don't call me 'buddy'," he replied, suddenly becoming dead serious.

"Why not, buddy?" I continued happily.

"Seriously?" He exclaimed, his tone indicating that he was somewhere between annoyance and amused.

"I'm always serious," I mimicked his voice, and winked at him. I could be such a tease!

"I'm having a bad influence on you."

"If you say so... _buddy._"

"What have I gotten myself into?"

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**A/N: Soooo what did you think? I thought it seemed wrong letting Hayley say yes, so it ended up with a no for poor Sirius (I feel so _bad!_)... I hope you've enjoyed it and remember to leave me a review with your opinion to this chapter ;D See ya!**

**-Marie**


	14. Dealing With Confrontations

**Hey! So this was the best I could muster under time pressure… You see; I'm leaving for Budapest on Saturday, and won't be back for another week, which means: _Bye, Bye Internet! _**

**I'll be planning what to do next though ;) I actually have a Rose/Scorpius-story in mind? What do you say? Interested? A multi-chap of course… let me know if you like the idea.**

**Anyway; Enjoy!**

**Read and Review!**

* * *

"Expecto patronum," I said and out of the tip of my wand it came; the smallest silvery hummingbird ever seen; or at least it seemed so. It was smaller than my fist but soared through the air like nothing I'd ever seen before. It flew past the ears of Alice and Frank who were in deep conversation, and it flew so close by Charlotte that her hair was ruffled by its small fast beating wings. I couldn't help the laughing, which escaped my lips as she shot me an angry glare. I kept my eyes on the little bird -that I had conjured- as it took a spin round the whole room.

"Nice one," someone whispered close to my ear, and I felt their hot breath tickle my skin. The hummingbird vanished as I lost my concentration.

"Sirius, your dog is losing it," Remus' familiar voice called from the other end of room, though it sounded a bit upset.

Turning around I just had time to watch as Sirius (who by the way was standing _rather _closeto me) spun around to look at his patronus; it had the shape of a huge dog and something about it seemed to resemble him slightly, though I couldn't decide what it was. Remus had been right; his dog was jumping around in a playful manner, its tail wagging vigorously, but at the same time its silvery color had begun to flicker, and it distantly reminded me of a light bulb that needed changing; It became almost invisible before brightening up into a color so clear that you were in need of sunglasses just to look at it (Okay, a bit over the top perhaps, but you get the point, right?).

Standing upon my tip-toes only, I whispered teasingly in his ear;

"Losing concentration, are we, Mr. Black?"

I saw him give a slight shudder and the dog fainted away. I giggled as I turned around, conjuring a new patronus. He had asked for it himself after all.

For the rest of the D.A.D.A. class (**D**efense **A**gainst the **D**ark **A**rts if you didn't knew it) patronuses flew all round us, soaring or leaping through the air, running and galloping along the tables as James' stag did, Lily's doe following.

While getting ready to leave the class Sirius caught up to me.

"Are you flirting with me, MissThorne,"

"Oh, I wouldn't dare, Snuffles."

"Snuffles?" he asked curiously something about his posture suddenly changing as he became more… tense.

"Yeah, because of your patronus. What else?" I smiled with a light frown.

He opened his mouth, but suddenly Remus came up to us.

"Can I speak with you? Privately," he added while eyeing Sirius. Before I even had any possibility at answering, he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down a deserted corridor.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Hi," he replied with a mumble either ignoring my exclamation, making fun of it instead, or perhaps, he didn't even realize that it hadn't been a greeting. He seemed to be deep in thought, looking over his shoulder every now and then.

"Are we being followed?" I whispered dramatically trying to lighten up the mood.

"No, I don't think so," he still looked very serious, but –for a fraction of a second- I think I saw the flicker of a smile upon his face.

"What do you want?" it was a just question in my opinion; he _had _after all dragged me all the way, right? He waited with answering until he found us a vacant class room, closing the door after us as we entered. "So?" I prompted him.

"Do you fancy him?" the boldness of this statement almost knocked me off my feet; Remus had never been the one to be bold or blunt or anything else in that manner. He was the 'down to earth' and quiet guy, so of course I was surprised about his sudden change in attitude.

"Who?" it was asked in the same way another may have asked 'do you really wanna go there?'; a sort of precaution, perhaps. I knew who he meant though; not a very tough nut to crack.

"Sirius."

Wow, big surprise (and here I thought all the sarcasm had finally left my system… apparently not).

The absurdness of the situation almost seemed comical to me; only minutes earlier had I been laughing my head off in class, and now Remus was confronting me with… _this_.

"No, I don't," I told him at last, "We're just friends."

Remus seemed to have problems with dealing the information, eyes looking conflicted, but it was the truth after all; we were just friends – friends who had almost went out on a date with each other and kissed once, though very briefly – but still. After a few minutes of further silence between us, he seemed to think better of it.

"Okay," he just shrugged, before leaving the room, eyes downcast.

It broke my heart a little actually. For sixteen years had we been the best of best friends and now he suddenly started to feel… distant.

Suddenly Sirius' head peeped in.

"Still alive?" he joked.

"Yeah," I said trying not to ruining his light-hearted mood by sulking too much.

"Come on," he said and I slowly went over to him.

We started to walk as he began to whistle; an idea took form in my head.

"Can you teach me that?"

"What?" he asked taken aback.

"To whistle. I don't know how to do it."

"Well, of course M'lady," he said inclining his head like a gentleman, though with the sly grin used only by thieves. (Gentlemen? Thieves? What's going on in my brain lately!).

…

"Hales, you've got to _blow_!" Sirius exclaimed exasperated.

"I'm trying!" I frowned in concentration, blowing harder but still no sound came.

"You're trying to _whistle, _not to spit on me!"

"Shut up," I pouted annoyed, "I'm giving up! I'm clearly not supposed to be able to whistle."

"Give it at least a last try," Sirius persisted, a sudden glint appearing in his eye.

"Okay," I quickly gave in, curios to see what his plan was. It hadn't work all the other times so why should it now? I pursed my lips to give it another go...

"Wait!" I stopped immediately as he said it.

"What?"

"Try to inhale?"

"_Inhale?_" was _that_ his genius idea?

"Yeah, didn't I just say so," he responded teasingly before adding, "Just try it."

I shook my head, not really believing in any of it, but still pursed my lips – once again – and this time began inhaling. _Nothing. _I tried again, more out of plain annoyance than Sirius' encouraging glances at me. Again nothi- wait! I tried again, and realized I had been hearing right, as another tiny little whistle came from my lips.

"I did it!" I cheered happily.

"You did it," Sirius joined in with a pleased smile on his lips, "Now we only need to teach you how to-"

"Hey Lily! I can whistle now," I yelled as I spotted her coming through the portrait hole.

She just stared in disbelief at us.

"What?" Sirius asked at last when her stare was starting to get a bit unnerving.

"You've been sitting here _all _day while trying to _whistle_?" her eyebrows shot to her hairline, though to be honest; I couldn't see her problem.

"Only half of it," I smiled teasingly at her, "And what's the matter with it? Why so upset?"

"It's nothing. I just didn't know how well you two were... friends."

"So?"

"Nothing," well, that clearly meant there was _something._

"Lily?" Sirius asked, also picking up on the slightly high-pinched tone in her voice.

"Spit it," I added.

She shuffled her weight from one foot to the other, twisting her hands around nervously. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought she had to pee.

"Okay!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in surrender as she couldn't hold it in any longer, "I just thought you two were into each other!"

This was definitely one of those scenes were the protagonist would have spitted their water out, making it spray so much that everything eventually would end up wet. Only I didn't have any glass of water by hand.

I must have looked hilarious; mouth popped open, eyes bulging as I tried to comprehend it. Sirius looked pretty dumfounded himself, still he recovered fastest.

"You- what?"

"I... I just thought that since you hadn't... you know... _been _with anyone this year, that maybe it was because of Hayley. So when you asked her out I automatically thou-" Lilly began to blurt but Sirius interrupted.

"You know about that?" he seemed to pale a bit; only a little bit of course. The difference would probably have been too minor to notice for anyone else than his best friends and... well, me.

"Yeah, Hayley told me, and I told her about my assumption, that you liked her-"

"You did?" this time he turned on me afterwards, "She did?"

"She did," I nodded, before gently pushing his face back to her, when he wouldn't turn by himself.

"I... I..." Lily blushed as she realized what she had been saying.

"It's okay, Lils," I reassured her before continuing, "We've talked it through and decided on being friends. It's okay. Really."

"But I thought you liked him!" She paled as soon as she had said it, just like I did (She really need to learn _when _to shut up!).

"You- what?" Sirius turned to me his face looking as if in an internal struggle between a frown and a grin.

"Pfsst! That's just... her imagination!"

I don't even know why I tried to cover it up. It wasn't so that I had ever really been _crazy _about him or anything. Well, not that I've realized anyway, but apparently Lily had already taken care of that for me.

"You liked me?" It seemed that the grin had won the battle.

"Well, did you like me?"

Ha! He didn't see that one coming.

"Call it even?" I suggested.

"Even it is."

...

"So where are you spending Christmas, Hayley?" Alice asked me during dinner that evening.

"Christmas?" I questioned while munching on my chicken wing. Wasn't there like... forever to go before that?

"Yeah, it's the 1st December," she smiled.

Wow, time passed quickly here at Hogwarts. I had already been here for half a year. Well, almost.

"Ehm, at home I guess," everybody just kept looking at me. Okay, when you've been moving over and over again for the last decade of your life it probably isn't so weird. "My grandmother's house," I explained and they all nodded in understanding, "What about you?"

They took turns telling it; Alice was going to France once again for the holidays with her mom and dad. Frank was staying in London and so was Lily. Charlotte was flying to Hawaii (I couldn't have cared less). James was going to spend his days in Scotland with some forgotten relatives. Remus was celebrating it at home with me like always (Though he didn't say much to me during dinner at all) and Sirius...

"I'm not celebrating it."

"What?" I asked confused. Why not celebrate Christmas; lots of good food, traditions and presents.

"I don't have anywhere to stay, so I guess I'll be spending it while unpacking my stuff."

"Unpacking?"

"I just bought an apartment before school began."

"Why?" What would a teenage boy need an own apartment for?

"Because I don't have anywhere else to stay," he stated matter-of-factly, though I could feel he didn't want to waste any more time on the subject.

I nodded to show that I had understood, and was done with the questioning. I added a mental note to myself though; _Find out why Sirius is spending Christmas alone!_

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**A/N: Hi again! So that's it! What did you think? As always leave a review ;D See ya!**

**-Marie**


	15. Racing Along With Detentions

**Hello fellows! How are we all on this fine day? I'm home from gorgeous Budapest, which was a truly astounding city ;D and it's my birthday today... turning sweet sixteen! ;P AND... I had my first exams today -.-' but hey, I'm good... Everything seems a bit better in your birthday isn't it so? ^_^**

**Anyway, here's another update... I'll do my best to keep posting in a somewhat regular manner even though, it'll be a bit tough considering my upcoming exams... but we'll just have to see, right? ;D**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review**

* * *

"One..."

"Do we really have to do this?"

"Two..."

"You know I'm going to win anyway, Hales, so why not just-"

"Three!"

I ran down the corridor as fast as my legs could carry me, curly hair falling repeatedly in an out of my eyes as it got whipped through the air. I could hear Sirius' footsteps closely behind, which only seemed to encourage me even more.

For the past week I had been racing down each and every corridor of Hogwarts in the hope of beating Sirius just once; unfortunately I hadn't yet achieved my goal.

It had started out with being just another one of my random ideas (which do tend to become slightly... weird). It came to me one afternoon while listening to Sirius bragging about his 'divine handsomeness' and 'unbelievable skills in sports' for _at least _an hour. Deciding to prove him wrong I made a bet with him – not a smart thing considering what happened last time (*cough* kiss *cough*) – even though, I made up mind and the bet; If I could beat him in anything – athletic that is – he would tell me why he was spending Christmas alone. If he won? Well, if I didn't win _a single time _before Christmas I had to dress up in a cheerleading outfit to the next Quidditch game in start of February _and _I had to cheer for _him_, which meant screaming _his _name. So basically; I would be really, _really _pissed if he won.

"I'm winning," he breathed into my ear, which was a sure sign that he was way too close; a thing that would never go well to my benefit.

"Don't think so," I blurted out between pants, before speeding up.

Suddenly he was lacking behind with at least a couple of feet and it didn't seem like he was going to catch up to me anytime soon. Of course I was sure that I had finally managed to beat him and that I had _actually _outrun him. I should have known something was wrong.

Still careless and non-knowing of Sirius hidden sure-to-be master-plans, I rounded a corner in full speed, running headfirst into Charlotte.

Normally I wouldn't have regretted doing such a thing, but since professor McGonagall followed closely behind her... I didn't feel much like laughing.

"Miss Thorne," McGonagall started out, and I felt the little hairs in my neck rise in fear at the sound of her voice; she was _not _pleased with this.

"I'm so sorry, professor," I stammered.

"Which you also said the first and the second time, miss Thorne. But no matter how great your sorrows may be it still didn't seem to stop you from doing so again."

In the corner of my eye I noticed Charlotte's wicked grin. She was still sitting on the floor to which she had fallen after my 'bump-in' with her. The sudden urge to strangle her suddenly seemed overwhelming...

"You could have hurt Miss Byrd by your running down the corridors," McGonagall's voice snapped me back to attention, "For the third time this week; 15 points from Gryffindor and," I flinched; an 'and' was never good... "You're having detention for the rest of the afternoon."

Well, at least it wasn't 'detentions for the rest of the week', which was a good thing, right?

I was just about to get dragged off to her office as Sirius came around the corner I had fatally rounded mere minutes ago; one hand at the back of his neck and the other thrown up in some sort of surrender.

"Mr. Black? What _are _you doing?"

"I'm giving myself in," he said grimacing grimly, "I raced the corridor with her."

"If this is just some sort of joke to you, Mr. Black, I would like it very much if you would take it elsewhere-"

"It's not, professor."

For a moment her inner cat seemed to peer out as she cocked her head slightly to one side, eyes drifting between me and Sirius.

"Very well," she said, head straightening again, "You'll both attend detention then. Follow me please."

Before following McGonagall down the corridor I shot Sirius a quick frown; why had he admitted taking part of the race? He could easily have walked the other way, deciding not to interfere with McGonagall's punishment of me. But still he hadn't...

While my brain puzzled over this question I began trailing Sirius and McGonagall, who were already halfway down the corridor. I'm pretty sure I heard Charlotte cursing under her breath, before shooting me an annoyed glare that clearly stated _don't think you're anything special_. I sent her a sarcastic smile in return. Long live the sarcasm!

McGonagall lead both of us to the huge doors of the castle, before turning to face us;

"Mr. Black, I trust that you know where Hagrid is to be found?"

"I sure do, professor," Sirius replied and for a tiny moment I thought I saw a little twinkle in his eye.

"Good. I would like you to take Miss Thorne along with you and go down to his cabin, where you'll spend your detention." With nothing else to say, she turned her back on us and walked away.

I wanted to ask Sirius who this Hagrid-fellow was, but I didn't even get a chance before he was out of the doors. I sprinted after him, almost toppling over as my feet hit the snow; it was knee-deep and I had to use all my might just to move my feet, while Sirius walked effortless in front.

We walked and walked and walked through the heavy snow and to me it seemed to simply drag on into forever, even though the distance wasn't much longer than you would have been able to walk it in less than five or ten minutes during summer. At last we reached a cabin, made out of rough-looking stones.

Sirius climbed the stairs, knocking twice on the door.

"Comin'!" a voice from inside yelled, as the door opened. In it stood a tall man – _very _tall to be honest; he actually resembled a giant in his size more than a regular man. He had a kind face even though most of it was hidden beneath a thick black beard and his wild mane of dark hair. He smiled at Sirius (Or I guess he did).

"Sirius Black!" he beamed, "How are yeh doin'? Where's James an' Remus?"

"Somewhere in the castle I guess. I'm not alone though," he added the last sentence seeing the man – who I guess was Hagrid – frown.

They both turned to look at me, standing slightly hidden by Sirius' long frame, even though he barely reached Hagrid's chin. He pulled me up beside him, his arm wrapping itself round my waist, and I found myself blushing slightly. I had always found it awkward getting introduced to new people you've never met, but this was just crucial.

"Let me introduce Miss Hayley Thorne," Sirius said a grin on his lips. Clearly he was enjoying my insecure moment.

"Well, aren't yeh a little pretty thing," Hagrid said, fondness and warmth creeping into his tone and I suddenly found myself relaxing into Sirius' arm still lingering at my waist, "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Call me Hagrid though."

"Pleased to meet you, Hagrid," I said before being engulfed in a bear hug by Hagrid, pulling Sirius into it as well.

A minute it seemed and some bruised ribs later he let go of us, leaving both of us gasping after air.

"Sorry," he apologized and it almost looked like he blushed behind the entire beard, "I'm a hugger."

"No problem, big guy," Sirius smiled before continuing, "Hales, are your teeth chattering?"

My teeth _were _in fact chattering, which was pretty logical, considering that we were standing without jackets and in soaked shoes in the start of December. Not to mention that from the knee down my jeans were dripping with melted snow.

"Oh, where are me manners. Com' in, com' in," and with those words Hagrid ushered us inside his cabin.

A fire was kindled, blazing in all its glory with a kettle bubbling ever so slightly above it, a huge dog lying in front of it.

"When did you get a dog?" Sirius asked after he had pulled two chairs up to us by the fire.

"Oh, only a month ago or so," Hagrid told him, "His name's Fang."

"How old _is _he?"

"Well, I bought him while he was still a little pup. So abou' a month?"

My eyes widened at that. The dog was massive! Especially for one, who was only supposed to be a month old.

"Wha' are yeh two doin' down here anyway?"

Sirius made a face before telling him what had happened at the castle. Meanwhile I enjoyed the heat of the flames, wiggling my toes as they slowly came to life again.

"Well, normally I would have pulled yeh into the forest, but in this weather?" Now it was Hagrid's turn to pull a face, before continuing with; "Yeh two just have a seat an' I'll bring some pumpkin-soup." And with those words Hagrid left us to ourselves, while moving around in the corners of the room to find some… dishes I think.

"How are you?" Sirius asked me, gently, "You're lips were bluer than blue before, you know that right?"

"Yeah, of course I do, because I had a mirror at hand to look into," I snorted, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Ha ha, you're _so _funny," he said sarcastically… still smiling though.

"Why did you do it?" I asked the question that had been on my mind now for hours.

"Do what?"

"Take the detention. You could have gotten off, you know."

"Yeah, well, I was in a fairly good mood today, so you should see yourself as lucky," he grinned; I simply rolled my eyes in return.

I was just about to ask him about the other thing that had hunted my mind for almost a week now, but just then Hagrid came to us with two bowls and spoons, handing a set to each of us. He then poured some of the orange – and very clumpy – liquid – which I assume was pumpkin soup – into our bowls from the kettle over the fire.

"Well, I'll just get something for Fang to eat. Suit yehselves."

Once again he left us, this time leaving the cabin entirely though.

"Psst, Fang! Are you hungry?" Sirius asked the dog before placing the bowl just below the dog's snout. It quickly began to eat greedily.

"What are you doing?" I asked cocking my head to one side.

"Saving myself from food poising," he whispered before grabbing my bowl, "and you, too."

Just as he had done with his own bowl of pumpkin soup he gave it to Fang, who had just lifted his head from the empty bowl, happy to start on another one.

"He's probably one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but his cooking…" he just let the sentence drift off, and even though he didn't finish it, I didn't have a hard time believing him somehow.

So back to the important issues of life.

"Why aren't you celebrating Christmas?" I asked bluntly, almost smacking myself on the forehead in bare stupidity. Not one for small talk are you, Hayley? "I _did _win after all," I said with a small smile.

"You did not."

"Did, too."

"Not."

"Did, too, so spill it."

"You cut right to the chase, huh?" he said, his voice sounding very hollow all out of a sudden as his gaze drifted off to the fire.

"I was just wondering-"

"It's okay. I just… don't really enjoy talking about it."

What was I even doing? If he had no desire to tell me back when Alice had brought it up, why now? I should be able to respect that but nooo…

"My parents-" he began but suddenly Hagrid came back in, holding a great steak in one hand.

Before he noticed it, Sirius grabbed our – now empty – bowls from the floor and discarded them to a vacant table.

"I'll tell you some other time," he whispered before turning his attention on Hagrid, "Well, we should better go now. Dinner is soon to be served and the teachers hate it when you prowl the grounds at night. Believe me; I speak out of experience," he winked in my direction and for the second time that evening I found myself rolling my eyes at him, appreciating the lightness of the conversation.

"Yeh probably right. Greet James an' Remus from me though," We told him goodbye and made our way back to the castle, which proved to be way harder than you would think, since it was pitch black outside.

"Grab my hand," I heard his voice but couldn't even make out his silhouette in the dark.

"I can't even see it," I told him and before I knew it, someone stood quite close to me, a hand closing around mine. I'm pretty sure that I was able to feel his chest heave as he breathed in and out.

"Follow me." And I did.

We made it back safely even though I was close to freezing my butt off. Still I stopped him from entering.

"What?" he asked curiously not seeming to care whatsoever about the coldness of the evening.

"Come and spend Christmas at my house," I blurted out not even knowing what I was going to say until it came out of my own mouth, "Remus will be there, too."

For a moment he actually seemed to pun over it, his eyes shining silvery in the dim light of the castle windows, his breath and my own coming out in small puffs.

"I really need to be unpacking though," he quickly injected, but my brain had already figured an answer to that one;

"I'll help you then?" Wait, what?

"What?" Both puzzled by this statement I quickly began explaining; once again not realizing what I was saying before it was already too late.

"We'll stay at your place for a few days, unpacking and all, before leaving for my grandmother's house. What do you say? Deal?"

I stretched out my hand just to make it seem all the more official… which got totally ruined by his wolfish grin.

"Deal," he said shaking my hand, "Now if you don't mind me I'll go get me something to eat."

I just managed to give him a smile before he went inside, leaving me alone in the darkness.

Suddenly it seemed like my brain got its oxygen back again. Had I just agreed to stay with Sirius at his apartment alone, and did I seriously suggest it myself?

Oh boy; was I in for an interesting holiday.

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**A/N: Hi again! Well, guys, you know the drill; leave me a review and tell me what you think ;) I'm actually thinking about beginning a multi-chap with Rose and Scorpius… any opinions? ;P See ya!**

**-Marie**


	16. Holiday Season Takes Off

**Hey guys! So here's a little update... this is merely to get some progress, since I needed to incorporate alot of travelling into this one...**

**I'll probably be updating a more often from next week on; I'm having my last day of school this Friday (and I'm first going back 10th August) with only four exams left, so wouldn't that be the ideal time to write? ;D**

**I've also posted a little Ron/Hermione one-shot... check it out if you feel like it, I would appreciate some feedback ;)**

**Anyway... my ramble is over now!**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review**

* * *

Telling Remus about the whole Christmas ordeal had actually been quite easy to manage. When I'd talked to him about it, the conversation had gone something like this;

"Hey, Remus, I actually wanted to talk to you," I'd told him the day after at breakfast, since we had been the only ones out of bed at that time already.

"Yes?" he'd said, eyes finally leaving the newspaper he'd been studying all morning, avoiding my gaze I guessed.

"I, ehm, kinda invited Sirius to spend Christmas at our place."

It was that moment that I'd feared ever since I'd invited him to join us during the holidays; Remus' rage unleashed as he would scold me about inviting his best friend without speaking to him, just because I had the hots for him. Here I would very much like to point out in fat capital letters that I was **SO NOT INTO SIRIUS BLACK! **Just to get that clear.

So there I'd been, sitting face to face with my best friend who I'd neglected more than Bianca, which had been my pet-rabbit at the age of nine years (If it hadn't been for my mother that creature wouldn't have lived for whole seven years... more like a month; if it had been lucky. Once again, I feel the need to state that I am not an animal-hater, they just don't like _me, _and after a week I usually lose interest in them. What can you do? I'm the bookworm!).

Well, back to the unleashing of Remus' inner ragnarok.

"Hmm."

'Hmm'? Was that it? The thing that had kept me awake all night, was nothing but a 'hmm'? I didn't even know what I'd expected; flying tables and lots of cursing? That simply wasn't Remus Lupin, but so wasn't this.

So at that point I had two options; (one) I could just let it go and ignore anything else OR I could (two) bug him until he gave me a real reaction.

As the good friend I was, I chose the latter of the two.

"What's annoying you?" plus a whole lot of "REEEEMUUUS!"'s and "Taaaalk to meee!"'s (Wow, I'm beginning to sound like Sirius) later he gave in.

"I'm just afraid that you'll end up hurting yourself, Hales."

As I'd looked into his eyes at that point, they'd even been talking on their own, saying: _You know I'm right, Hales. You're just blinded by an impossible crush._ _It's exciting to you; I get it, but deep inside yourself, you know I'm right._

Just to make sure that I'd gotten his statement, he quickly recited it out loud as well;

"You know I'm right, Hales. You're just blinded by an impossible crush. It's exciting to you; I get it, but deep inside yourself, you know I'm right."

I'd then spent an hour trying to convince him that _nothing _was going to happen between me and a certain Mr. Black and that we would keep ourselves to the rules of friendship, which meant (Again; fat capital letters) **NO DATING. NO KISSING. NO ANYTHING!**

Seriously; how hard could it be? We'd been doing fine for the last month or two after all.

At last though he'd given in though he'd made it clear that Sirius was to stay at _his _house, not that he didn't trust me or anything; he just wanted to be absolutely and 120% sure that there would be no fooling around between Sirius and me. As if we normally did anything like that! Remus actually reminded me more of an overprotective parent – which none of mine really were – instead of my best friend. But what the heck! If I gave in to his demands the bigger the chance that he would maybe be able to relax a bit during our holiday.

...

Before any of us even came to realize it, most of December had already passed by and the holidays began. After taking the Hogwarts Express back to London, we said our good-byes. Alice, Frank, Lily and Peter received hugs and kisses from my part, and also Remus got a pair, since I was driving home with Mr. and Mrs. Potter along with James and Sirius.

"Mom, dad, meet Hayley Thorne," James introduced me to his parents before entering their car, "She's Moony's best friend."

"Well, hello, Hayley," Mrs. Potter greeted me smiling, her husband quickly following suit.

He was a tall man, slim built, with the same dark hair as James, though greying in the sides and it looked neater than his son's wild mane, too. Mr. Potter's wife on the other hand was a short woman with a nice figure, and her dark brown curls had been pinned onto the top of her head to stop it from falling into her eyes. Both of them had the same eyes as James though; a nice dark brown, that reminded me of roasted hazelnuts.

We loaded out trunks into their car before making our way towards their home.

And as the hours seemed to tick by, squeezed on the backseat of the Potters' car, James sitting in the right side, me in the left and Sirius pressed in between, I drifted off in deep thoughts about pretty much everything; Remus, Bianca the pet-rabbit, my grandmother, Sirius... as I said; everything. Even the transportation got a turn-over; I only knew that we had to pick up a few things at James' house before – once again – driving back to London, though I had no idea about what kinds of things we were getting and - of course - how the hell we were getting back.

...

Afternoon had already started as Sirius and I stood in front of the huge garage; James and his parents lived in one of those really nice neighbourhoods, where each and every house simply looked like a mansion in its own and where the lawns were nice-looking and trimmed neatly. As I said; a nice neighbourhood.

"Are you ready to be wowed?" I rolled my eyes at Sirius as he rolled the garage door up to reveal... a motorbike.

"A motorbike? Is that why we're here?" I asked, hoping we hadn't been driving all that time for a damn motorbike; for a person who'd been travelling half her life I hated driving, flying, sailing and all other kinds of transportation... at least in very large potions.

"_A _motorbike? Hales, this is _my _baby, my love, my _everything_!" the sudden passion in his voice along with the glint in his eyes convinced me that he wasn't faking it; he was actually in love with this... thing.

"Should I be jealous because you're sweet-talking this machine and not me?" I asked, adding a mock pout just to make it look perfect.

"You know you're the only girl in my life, babe," he grinned back, mischief edged into each feature in his face and body. It still knocked my breath away though... and I mean that _literally._

As I broke into a coughing fit he quickly got me guided into the house – though if it was before or after my face turned blue, I'm not sure – getting me a glass of water.

As I gulped the water greedily, Sirius apparently decided that since I wasn't in any apparent risk of dying anytime soon, that his bike was getting too lonely out there all by itself. Boo hoo.

Meanwhile Mrs. Potter decided to pay me a little visit in the kitchen.

"Hi Hayley," she smiled mildly, the thin cracked lines of wrinkles showing just beneath her eyes; an evidence that she was a woman who enjoyed laughter and smiles.

"Hello Mrs. Potter," I greeted back.

"James told me you'd been home-schooled?"

And that was how it began; innocent small-talk nothing more, before it took a sharp turn into a _very _different direction...

"You're good friends with Sirius?"

"Yeah, I would like to think so," I smiled, furrowing at the direction the conversation had taken.

"And you're not dating?"

"Nope," I said, starting to feel a bit unnerved.

"Very peculiar," she muttered to herself, before cracking me a smile, "Sirius doesn't usually have girlfriends. Well, he does but not 'friends who are girls'."

"I know," I told her truthfully, "And don't worry; I'm not about to fall head over heels for him."

"But what if he falls for you?" she grinned at me, an expression that truly made her seem younger, not like a lady already way into her forties.

Just as I was about to discard the subject as what it was – an impossibility – Sirius came in through the door.

"Hales, you ready?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, wait a minute; I'll just fetch James and John, so we can tell you goodbye," and with those words Mrs. Potter shuffled out of the kitchen, leaving an oil-covered Sirius and me to us.

"Been tempering with the bike?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. He walked to the fridge and opened it, his head disappearing into it for a few seconds, before ensuing with a bottle of water. He sat down in front of me. "So... you've been talking to Abby?"

"Abby?"

"'Mrs. Potter' as you call her. Her name is Abigail though; Abby for short."

"Oh," I said feeling slightly stupid; I hadn't even asked for their names. I bit my lower lip while rethinking my earlier actions; could it really be true that I'd forgotten it? How polite I was. Here I was meeting James' and Sirius' (sort-a) parents, and I totally forgot asking for their names; I was such a dork.

"Hayley? Sweetie? You're still with me?"

"What?" I let go of my lip and focused my eyes on his, "Did you just call me 'Sweetie'?"

He grinned.

"I knew it would get your attention."

"Jerk," I muttered annoyed.

"Nerd," he replied, a smile teasing the edges of his lips.

"Idiot."

"Princess."

"Snuffles," I whispered, smile growing, "and you really need to find some better insults."

"Beautiful," I rolled my eyes, before noting that we'd subconsciously leaned closer towards each other during out little banter, and were now mere inches apart.

"We – ehm – should probably go outside; waiting, you know," I stammered, slowly retracting myself.

As if someone had woken him of a dream, Sirius startled back to reality and almost jumped out of his chair. He ran a hand through his black hair, searching for words, though ended up with a very simple, "yeah."

On our way out we met up with the Potters – now complete – and I grabbed my duffel bag from where I'd discarded it earlier; it held all the necessary possessions I owned that might could come in handy while being at Sirius' place; clothes, a toothbrush, pyjamas, socks, books and so on.

We walked steadily towards the garage and it was only last minute that realized _how _we were getting back to London.

"W-We're taking the _bike_?" my voice went shrill thinking about riding that thing for the next two hours straight.

"What did you have in mind? A Limousine?" Sirius mocked, grinning, while he picked something big and round from the cemented driveway, "put this on."

As he shoved it into my grip I realized that what he was handing me in fact was a helmet.

"Are you serious?" I shrieked while staring horrified down at it.

"Yeah," he smirked, "hence the name."

Should have seen that one coming.

We were quickly being engulfed in hugs by the Potters; even though I'd known them for less than a day, they acted nothing but kind and loving around me. It was quite nice actually.

"Call me when you get there," Abbie told Sirius, before kissing him on the cheek.

Sirius got seated on his bike and motioned for me to follow his example, which I did though very, _very _unwillingly. The huge helmet felt hot and overweighed, while giving me the slight feeling of claustrophobic.

He started the engine, which came to life under us with a roar that almost had me jumping off it immediately. Clearly he sensed it, because his body quickly began shaking from laughter. I smacked his back, and he turned to look at me (his helmet blocking most of his face from view though), as if he was asking permission to go. I nodded.

We sprang forward and my body smashed together with Sirius'.

"Hold on tight," he yelled, most of his voice disappearing under the noise of the engine.

I did what he said and grabbed a firm hold of him, my hands securely locked round his torso. We made our way out of the driveway, waving goodbyes to the Potters, before lurching toward London.

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**Hello again, my lovelies! So let me hear your thoughts on this chapter; you know the drill... Next chapter is coming along fine and I'll probably be updating by the beginning of next week ;) sooo... See ya!**

**-Marie**


	17. The Lunar Rose

**Hello! There's really not much to say this time... I'm having my first exam tomorrow and will be in Paris during the weekend, returning sometime Sunday again. So the next update will be postponed the tiniest bit.**

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We were just entering London when it began to rain heavily down upon us. The steady drumming of raindrops onto my helmet, echoed loudly in my ears, the noise seeming harsh and very unwelcome. I even tightened my hold on Sirius as it felt to me like he was slipping away under my hands like a bit of soap; the rain had drenched him completely and his leather-jacket wasn't exactly the easiest thing to cling onto.

At last he pulled us to a stop. He stepped off the bike and held his hand out for me to grab; I took the offer gladly. We were parking in the middle of some sort of alley, which was rather empty with the exception of a few dumpsters, old furniture that had been left to rot here and a rusting fire escape-ladder, which I wouldn't really call 'safe'-looking. But of course this was exactly the place where Sirius had to be leading me.

After locking his bike like only a wizard could – this meant using various protective and locking charms – he walked towards the latter. I carried my helmet under the arm, ignoring the fact that my hair was getting soaked. But when I felt the familiar weight of my duffel bag bumping against my hip as I walked, my stomach dropped; it was drenched by now – as was I – and it held all my dry clothes... or wet clothes, as I should probably put it. I cursed at myself mentally though still followed Sirius obedient ; the idea of being stranded in London with no idea where to go or any dry clothes at hand while it was raining massively did not seem very appealing to me.

We climbed the ladder, while it creaked and screeched dangerously beneath our feet, making me feel _slightly _uncomfortable. After a few stories Sirius stopped by a window, pulling his wand out of his pocket.

"Alohomora," he whispered and the reassuring click of the lock being unlocked sounded almost immediately afterwards.

He climbed in first, catching me as I followed closely behind.

"Thanks," I muttered straightening myself.

I was standing in a quite large room, probably even a living room, with bare, white walls and no furniture except a large sofa, its fabric a dark red, and lots of packing boxes.

"You can go change in the bathroom if you want to," he said, pointing down a narrow hallway connected to the room.

"I don't really have any dry clothes anymore," I said, dropping the bag onto the floorboards, where it landed with a _splash_.

He scrunched his face up into a frown, before smirking at me.

"I have an idea," and with those words he left the room, wandering down the corridor and disappearing in its shadows. Meanwhile I decided it time to drop the helmet, kicking my sneakers off as well. I wriggled my arms out of the jacket, its material clinging tightly to me, making the task close to impossible to accomplish.

I was still wiggling like crazy when Sirius re-entered the living-room, some light bluish garment in his hand. When his eyes focused on me though, he cracked me a wide grin.

"Need any help, Miss Thorne?"

"No," I lied stubbornly.

"Are you completely sure, because that looks kind of dangerous," he continued, implying the way I was tossing around.

I gave it another pair of attempts – or perhaps it was even more than just a 'pair' – before accepting his help. It didn't take him long to get me out of it, though I personally found it pretty disturbing when his warm hands where trailing down my arms and back while doing so.

"Is that really necessary?" I'd breathed, sounding very shallow all of a sudden.

"Do you want to get out of it or not?" He'd whispered to me, his hot breath tickling my ears.

Sometimes I truly wondered whether or not he actually was flirting with me. I could feel the gentleness of his touch, see his tender looks and hear his charming words. But then there were so many other things, too, this was Sirius after all; the guy who lived like a sailor, which meant 'A girl in every haven'. He could have anyone (and probably had, too) so why would I even matter the slightest? We were mates, friends; that was it.

Sometimes I even wondered if he would even care about me was it not that I was best friends with Remus and all.

I walked to the bathroom to change, the clothes Sirius had handed me in one hand. It turned out it was an old shit of his; button-up and light blue. Since I wasn't very tall it ended mid-thigh; it was short, but I'd worn dresses that were shorter.

I left a few buttons open at the neck of it; I'd always hated the way some people buttoned their shirts all the way up... it just didn't look very appealing to me (Not that I was trying to look appealing at the current!). Before leaving the bathroom I hang my clothes over the edge of the bathtub to dry and took a look in the mirror; my curls were tangled together, looking wild and feral, my cheeks still flushed from the cold. I moved my hand up to remove a stray curl that had fallen into view; since Sirius' arms also were longer than mine, the cuffs that I'd rolled up kept falling down to cover my hand, and as I removed the stray bit of hair I couldn't help but smell the familiar scent of Sirius in the fabric; it wasn't like any cologne I'd ever smelled before – and to be honest I wasn't even sure if it were cologne – and it was quite hard to actual describe, but to me he simply smelled nice.

Twenty minutes after I'd walked into the bathroom I excited. I tip-toed my way over the floor my bare feet cold against the hard and solid wood.

Already from the hallway I could see his silhouette leaning over a box, rummaging in it. I leaned onto the doorframe, watching him quietly for a minute or two before declaring myself.

"Hey."

He turned around, something big and square in his grip.

"Hi," he grinned lifting the thing up to his eye, "Smile."

Reflexively I smiled at him, a small grin that I simply couldn't withheld. A blitz went off and I figured that it was in fact a camera he had in his hands; an instant camera to be exact.

As the picture was printed, I walked up to him and watched curiously as he began shaking it back and forth, waiting for it to develop.

"I didn't even know that there was such a thing as Polaroid-wizard-cameras."

"There is," he shrugged, eyes locked on the picture in his grasp, "but this isn't one of them."

"May I see?" he showed me the picture and my eyes widened; you would think we'd been screwing around – literally.

"Throw it away!" I begged miserably, not feeling very optimistic about others opinions on it.

"No, why would I?"

"Because it's embarrassing, and miss leading, and-"

"Hayley!" He exclaimed with a grin, "I'll keep it for myself, 'kay?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, considering his offer; "And no one will see it?"

"Unless you say so? No."

"Then I guess it is okay," I muttered, looking up at him through my dark eyelashes.

"I knew you would agree; I always win," he said as he turned his back at me, his attention back on the moving box.

"Oh, shut up, Snuffles," I grumbled, not able to keep a light smile from showing.

...

"Any plans for dinner?" I asked.

A few of the boxes had turned out to be furniture that just needed to be put together, so for the last few hours we'd been doing nothing else than fixing these.

"Isn't it too early for that?" he mumbled, eyes fixed on a nail, his tongue stuck out as he balanced the hammer in his hand.

"It's ten in the evening," I exclaimed my hands pointing to the window; the sky outside was black as only a winter evening could be, not even the moon being able to cast a little light in the dark.

"Oh," he said, finally hammering the nail into the wall, "Then I suppose we better get us something to eat. Get your jacket."

"It's wet," I said, "And I can't go out dressed only in a man's shirt."

"It's London, Hales; they won't notice."

His grin did nothing to reassure me, but still I followed him to the door, where he tossed me what seemed to be a rain coat of his. Once again it was way too large for my small frame, but at least it was a bit longer than the shirt.

We walked outside, the rain still falling hard, and it didn't take long for my already wet sneakers to get even wetter. I pulled the hood of the coat over my head, realizing it reached the top of my nose. I pulled it back slightly and turned to look at Sirius who seemed pretty unaffected by any of this; his dark hair was slowly getting wet as we walked the streets of London, his leather jacket the only thing protecting his clothes from the weather. His gray eyes glinted silvery-gold in the yellow light of the street lanterns, the iconic red Londoner busses driving past us as people crowded the sidewalk, their faces covered by hoods or a colourful umbrella in hand.

"Where're we going?" I asked but he either didn't hear me or simply chose to ignore me because he never answered.

We walked for another couple of minutes before he turned down a narrow street with barely any lighting. It was one of those places where I would never have stepped into at night if I'd been on my own; luckily I wasn't. About halfway down the block of shabby-looking apartments he walked up to a building and opened the door. There was a sign above, but I couldn't make it out in the dark. Once inside Sirius took my coat and led me down a long narrow corridor with no lamps alight. I could feel the panic starting to creep under my skin; where were we going?

At last I heard something that made my heart lift; the sound of laughter and talking along with the sweet scent of food filled the hallway, just as a door seemed to appear out of nowhere, a warm golden light spilling from it. Upon entering I noticed we had reached a restaurant but it was unlike any one I'd seen before; it looked like a place from the early forties except the magical guests; at the bar a beautiful fair-haired Veela was changing into an ugly Harpies while security had their wands out, trying to get her out of the club. The tables were occupied by all kinds of beings; small goblins hissing to each other about some important issue, a young and handsome male vampire in a striped suit, his blonde hair combed back, sipping his glass of blood and at the back on a little stage what looked like a nymph was singing seductively into the microphone.

I gasped.

"You like it?" Sirius grinned at me.

"It's amazing," I breathed.

We walked over to an empty table and took our seats, just as a waitress came up to us.

"Welcome to the Lunar Rose. My name is Emily and I'll be your host for the evening," she was pretty tall with caramel coloured skin that went well with her dark hair, which was pinned up. Her brown eyes were focused on the young vampire during her little speech and it wasn't until she handed us the menu that she looked at us – or Sirius I should say.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed loud enough for all the others to hear, "It's Sirius Black."

A rush went through the crowd and several of them – particularly the young women – craned their necks to get a good look at him.

"Emily," he inclined his head politely with a small smile, "It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah?" she began twirling her hair round her finger before slamming it down on the table, "because you never called me like you said you would."

My eyes wandered back and forth between the two of them like all others, too; from Emily who looked beyond furious – and who I suspected hadn't even noted me yet – to Sirius with his small smile and glinting eyes.

"I had school to take care of, Honey," he told her smoothly; I felt a jolt to my stomach as he used the endearment.

"Don't you 'honey' me-"

"Now, now dear; calm down, please," a short and rather overweighed man had appeared, his grey hair thinning visibly.

"Bobby," Sirius exclaimed happily, "It's good to see you again, old man."

"And you too, my young Sirius. Who's your date?" with those words he turned on me, kind blue eyes looking me up, "A pretty lass you've got here."

"This is Hayley Thorne; we go to school together and she's Moony's best friend," the man nodded well-knowingly at the mentioning of Remus, "Hayley, this is Bobby Bennett; the owner of this place."

"It's truly amazing here," I complimented him and in response he looked down at his feet, blushing.

"Now, don't you go making me feel awkward, Miss!" he chuckled before straitening himself, "Emily, please take good care of them; they're tonight's honour-guests."

Before he shuffled off for good, he whispered something to Sirius, though he kept it too low for me to hear. I afterwards shot him a puzzled expression, which he simply waved off, beginning to study the menu in front of him.

Emily seemed a lot nicer – though you could tell it was being forced – for the rest of the evening, serving us with delicious food and drinks, while Sirius and I talked and laughed.

After we'd finished our dinner the blond vampire, who had been sipping on his glass of blood all evening, came up to our table, startling green eyes fixed on me.

"Hello," he greeted me, ignoring Sirius altogether, which in response seemed a bit annoyed.

"Hey."

"What's your name, child?" the term 'child' felt a bit off to me considering the fact that I was a legal adult in the wizarding world – or close to anyway.

"Hayley."

"_Hayley," _he repeated affectionately, "Sounds like sweet music to me."

"O-okay," I stammered. This guy was starting to freak me out the slightest bit – especially when you considered what he'd had for supper.

"I was just about to go for a little stroll along the Thames; would you care to join me, Hayley?"

I opened my mouth to respond but Sirius was faster;

"Sorry, dude; she's taken," he said, his eyes looking as hard as steel as he stared the vampire down, who had finally acknowledged his presence.

"I had no idea that you were involved with each other," he said giving Sirius an icy look.

"Well, we are," Sirius grabbed my hand that lay on top of the table, lacing his fingers with mine just to make it clear that we were together.

"Then I am very sorry to have disturbed your night. Farewell," he stalked for the exit, his shoulders tensed in clear frustration. Sirius followed his every movement until he had left the room.

"So," I started with a small smirk, squeezing his hand, "We're together?"

"Huh?" returning to the current, Sirius scrunched his nose giving me a slightly arrogant smile, "_Puh_-lease! I only said that to make him leave."

"You're still holding my hand though," as if just realising what I was saying he dropped my hand and ran it through his hair instead, "I just wanted to make sure you weren't scarred for life by that git!"

"And I thank you very much for that," I smiled back at him.

He did care about me after all.

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**Hi again! Personally I'm not very proud of this chapter, but tell me what you think... For some reason I thought of Lady and the Tramp during the restaurant scene ;) See ya!**

**-Marie**


	18. Realization

**Hey lovelies! So here you go; the long-awaited update ;) There'll be some drinking involved in this chapter... don't hate me for it! :I**

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"Barkeep!" Sirius yelled down the bar at the young fellow mixing drinks.  
"Sirius," I hissed at him, "I don't think we should be drinking."

We had regrouped ourselves from our earlier seats at the table to the bar, since Sirius had felt the urge to get a butterbeer. Now he demanded something a bit stronger…

"Relax, Hales," he told me reassuringly, yelling instructions at the bartender and watching him pour after them, "Afraid you're going to get drunk?"

"I can drink you under _any _table," I told him defiantly, though eyeing the liquor uneasily.

"That's a deal then," he grinned as our glasses were put in front of us, "to great friends."

I lifted the shot-glass, already regretting my next words before they were out, "To great friends!"

We both emptied the small glasses in one swift move, the alcohol burning its way down my throat. I shook my head from side to side.

"Too strong?" Sirius asked with a light chuckle, as if he'd already won the game.

"Barkeep," I smirked at him and he ached a brow in curiosity, "Another round please and this time; make it a double."

…

We downed the first rounds easily and quickly, and it didn't take long for it to kick in; the good mood and sudden lightness that usually followed with the alcohol was starting to make me feel giddy. I began chuckling like crazy at what must have been the lamest jokes in history as Sirius and I continued our drinking marathon.

I didn't know what time it even was, but if I had to take a guess I would have said a bit after midnight or so, seeing the mass of people that crowded the dance floor. The music was louder than it had been earlier, drumming in my ears as my fingers tapped against the counter, following the beat.

"You-" Sirius' mouth opened but was quickly drowned out in the buzz of the music.

I shook my head, smiling, while pointing to my ears. _I can't hear you. _

He smirked and leaned in closer, his lips almost brushing my ear.

"You wanna dance?" he asked.

I mimicked his actions, leaning closer to him and putting my mouth against his ear.

"Yes," I told him before blowing him in the ear. He jumped in his seat, looking at me slightly open-mouthed.

Once again I began giggling hysterically, covering my mouth in embarrassment. He simply grinned before grabbing me by the hand and leading me to the dance floor, just as the song changed.

"Oh, I love this song!" I screeched as we pushed our way through the crowd until we reached a good spot.

I began swinging my hair and hips to the music while singing along to the lyrics, trying very hard not to start giggling again.

…

Hell, you gotta give it to her; that girl could drink. I watched excitedly as she now was dancing in front of me, her hips swaying to the music, whipping her hair. Never would I have thought that I was ever going to watch someone shake their ass off to "Johnny B. Good", but there you go; Hayley Thorne was putting herbest efforts into dancing like crazy to this exact song.

"' _Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans_  
_Way back up in the woods among the evergreens__  
__There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood__  
__Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode__  
__Who never ever learned to read or write so well__  
__But he could play the guitar just like ringin' a bell,'" _she sang alongand I couldn't keep myself from simply shaking my head at her, disbelieving, "'_Go, go! Go Johnny, go! Go!'__"_

It didn't really help the surrealistic feeling of the whole situation that she still only wore my shirt, which was kinda weird; maybe because it was the fact that she _had _done it, without much hesitation even. I grinned to myself; the combination of her sneakers, the (on her) over-large shit and her wild curls was simply… genius. Of course I'd seen weirder, especially while being at the Lunar Rose; a _very _hairy wizard dressed in nothing but a purple bikini, a goblin dancing in his bathrobe and bunny slippers, a lunatic/vampire wearing what seemed to be a spacesuit, claiming it protected him against the sun (what's most risky? To burn to ash in the middle of a street or running around looking like you've just made it back from Mars?). In comparison though, Hayley definitely was the better dressed.

The next song was slower; one of those romantic ones were you're supposed to dance closely. All around us the couples were getting closer to each other again, locking their hands around necks and waists. Hayley looked round while shuffling with her feet, nervously. As I noticed that she was backing away from me, something seemed to urge me forward, to-go-for-it. I grabbed her by the waist pulling her close to me, without it being uncomfortable.

"'_Give me a kiss to build a dream on,'" _I hummed softly.

"You want anything, Mr. Black?" she asked brown eyes glinting in the dimness.

"Oh, not at all, Miss Thorne," I grinned, "Only '_a kiss to build a dream on.'"_

As I sang the last part of the sentence, she began giggling again. It was funny watching Hayley drunk. Even after several drinks she seemed sober than most girl I'd witnessed drink. It would be interesting to see how long it would last before she was going to lose it completely, which couldn't be long at the rate we were going.

As the song ended and a much more upbeat (though to be honest; pretty crappy) song began playing, we went back to continue our little drinking session, while I kept humming that song. _A kiss to build a dream on…_

For the following hours glass after glass after glass was downed, without her composure began lacking at all while she continued to order drinks for us. She had even begun flirting with the bartender, sending him seductive looks and licking her lips. The idiot even flirted back, giving her free drinks and touching her hand more than necessary when handing her those drinks.

"Hey," I told him, "Get your hands off her."

"Says the guy who's _not _my boyfriend," she chuckled.

"You're drunk, babe."

"Well, then, _Honey,_" she gave me a verymischievous look at that point, her eyes glinting teasingly, "Kiss me."

Okay, she was definitely drunk – at least enough to lose all her inhibitions. I gulped – why was I even becoming nervous? I was Sirius Black; I could cope with anything… even a drunk Hayley Thorne.

"See," she said, turning back to the bartender, "He doesn't even wanna kiss me. But I bet you would… Eric?"

"Daniel," he corrected her, though he smiled from one ear to the other. At the current he had only one thought left in his little blond head; _snogging_.

"_Hayley; look at me," I said, "Hayley."_

_She slowly turned her head toward me, the barkeeper – Daniel – left gazing at her, "Yeah?"_

_I don't know why I did it; in panic that she might end up kissing someone else than me? And if that's the case; what's wrong with me?_

_I moved both my hands up to cup her face as I leaned in, letting our lips meet. They were as I remembered; unbelievable soft and warm under my own, though this time she didn't freeze on impact, no, she returned the kiss almost instantly, her hands snaking their way round my neck, pulling me closer to her and off my chair. She smiled into it and I couldn't help doing it too; our lips moved perfectly together, each touch of mine responded with one of her own. It was heaven, and that comes from a guy who probably has __snogged__ more than a hundred girls in his lifetime. _

_Hayley and I fitted together as perfectly as Lily and James did; we were simply made to be… _Wait;

I shook my head; great now I was hallucinating, too.

"Ups, sorry," she giggled of the mistake, "So… where are you from, Daniel?"

I turned away from the two of them as they started small-talking and flirting, feeling my stomach clench uncomfortably. I couldn't snog Hayley. We'd agreed on being friends only, snogging not included in that! And even if I had wanted to kiss her - which I did not say I wanted – it shouldn't be while she was drunk, she would just think I was using her, taking advantage while she was out – like this guy was going to.

No, I told myself; this was better.

Still the need to simply punch the guy in the face was close to overwhelming.

…

Daniel had leaned closer almost instantly as I'd started talking to him. He was nice I guess, though nothing real special – someone to pass your time with you may say. And since Sirius and I barely could speak with each other without somehow flirting - even just the tiniest bit - Daniel was the perfect opportunity for me to simply _let go _for a moment, enjoying myself.

Sirius had left the same moment I began chatting to Daniel. Annoyance? Boredom? Jealousy? I didn't have a clue.

My head was buzzing, the music not helping the migraine I was sure to get the day after.

"You're cute, you know?" he grinned at me and I did my best at returning it; where had Sirius gone off to anyway? I would hate myself if I'd upset him. I was supposed to stay at his place for at least an extra couple of days so wouldn't it just be lovely if I'd messed him up from the moment I entered the apartment?

Maybe I should search for him? I couldn't find the apartment on my own after all. But maybe he'd already left, hoping I would understand the hint and not follow him home.

"Beautiful even," Daniel said leaning closer. I turned my head to the side as a way of showing him that I was not interested in kissing around with strangers. He didn't really get the point.

"Stop it," I mumbled as he grabbed me by the elbow, holding me in place, "Stop it!"

…

"Did I miss something?" a voice asked.

I was sitting in one of the corners, where I knew the shadows would be able to hide me from sight, but even in the dim lighting I didn't need to turn round to know that it was Bobby, the owner of the place, approaching me. I knew who and what he referred to of course.

"We're… _friends_," I told him grabbing the flask of whiskey that I'd brought along with me; I'd known it to be just below the counter on the other side of the bar. I took a big gulf of it, before offering it to him.

"I think you need it more," he said making me snort, "You like her."

It was typical Bobby to say such things; he always said what was on his mind even if you would much rather be hiding from it yourself.

"I don't know, Bobby. She's Moony's friend; like a sister to him. I couldn-"

"Tell me, lad; is Remus here?" I slowly shook my head from side to side, "How much time has she actually spent with him through the last couple of months?"

I opened my mouth ready to ask _how did you know-? _But he seemed to realize this before I got around to it, "You two seemed to know each other well," he said with a shrug.

For a moment I just stared at the man, who I counted as much as a friend as I did with Frank Longbottom. When I'd met him years earlier I'd thought him to be dumb, which of course quickly had turned out being completely false. The guy was a master in reading people, a thing that probably resulted from the years of owning his own club. Then of course it wasn't the only thing I loved about him…

"You know," he started with a grin, "I'm firing Danny-boy there by the end of next week-"

"Why?"

"He has a history of making-out with costumers. Anyway; if anyone would like to take a swing at him I wouldn't be the one holding them back-"

"I can't go around punching people-"

"You've done so earlier," Bobby said evoking some old memories of bruises and black eyes, "And she seems to be in need of it, too."

I looked up from the bottle of whiskey in my hand - which I'd been studying just for the fun of it - and up at the bar. Hayley was seemingly trying to get the bastard off her as he tried getting close enough for a snog.

Almost mechanically I got up and walked over there, the protests from her getting louder as I closed in.

"Stop it, Daniel! _Please!_"

In one swift motion I jumped over the counter – a thing I'd done innumerable times while bartending in the holidays. I pulled him back by his shoulder, spinning him as I did so before letting my fist connect with his nose, a sickening cracking nose ensuing; I'd broken it. Good.

He stepped back from me, his hands flying to his nose as he eyed me with horror.

"I told you before," I said, "'_Get your hands off her'"_

Before I knew it, he was running off, toppling over the tables as he fled the Lunar Rose.

I fought the strong desire to yell at him as I reminded myself of the actual reason for the hit; Hayley. I turned to her only to find her gazing back at me. She looked quite dumbstruck as she blinked at me, "Could we please go home now?"

Her voice was tiny and I realized her eyes were brimming with tears. My brain – not fully-functional due to the great amount of alcohol we'd consumed – didn't have a clue what was going on; was she mad at me for punching him? Had he hurt her in anyway? Because if that was the case I was going to-

"Farewell Sirius," Bobby brought me back to the current as he leaned in over the counter, his hand clapping me on the back before whispering, "Nice punch; now take your lady home with you."

I grinned to myself as I paid our drinks, before getting her on her feet. She fell instantly, though I was able to catch her before she crashed completely to the floor.

"Thanks," she mumbled while snuggling into me.

Deciding that there was no other possible way for me to get her from one place to the other without having her fall over constantly, I bend in my knees and took a firm hold of her before lifting her bridal-style.

Suddenly soft lips were being pressed against my cheek in a sweet kiss.

"There you go, build a dream on that," she whispered referring to the song playing earlier that evening, a single tear falling down her cheek as she smiled at me.

"Why are you crying?" I asked her; even to my ears the concern was evident in my voice.

"Because I'd never had a guy punching someone for me before," she laughed softly, snuggling closer into me before closing her eyes, "It's a girl's thing; but thanks for standing up for me."

"Anytime," I whispered kissing her on the head as her breathing slowly evened out and she lulled off.

_Give me a kiss to build a dream on._

* * *

**Songs used:**

**"Johnny B. Good" by Chuck Berry**

**"A Kiss To Build A Dream On" by Louis Armstrong**

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**Hi again, folks! So this was chapter 18 of this story… I can't believe we've already come this far! And we're just about to round the 100 reviews, too… exciting! ;D So be nice (like you always are) and write me a little review – I love to hear your opinions 3 See ya!**

**-Marie**


	19. Wrestling!

**Hey! Yeah, I know; it's been waaaay too long… I've been an unhappy victim of the writer's block decease causing the imaginary flow of my brain to simply stop, which is pretty crappy considering all you dear readers who've been so nice and kind to me ^o^ We've just passed the 100th review *screams so loudly in utter happiness so all the neighbors start fleeing the town in fear* YOU ARE AMAZING, GUYS! Special thanks to Kittyhawk58 for the 100th review, but of course this goes out to all of you who've also reviewed over the course of this story! Thanks for adding it to your 'favorite'-lists and 'alert'-lists; you have _no idea _what it means to me! 3 I'm mentally hugging all of you now, seriously ;D**  
**Another special thanks to TWHATT18 for the reminder of the 'ticklish thing' as she puts it; if it weren't for you I'm seriously doubting when this would have been put up ;)**

**So basically; THANKS TO EVERYONE! I'm looking forward to share many more chapters with you!**

**Good, my rant is over now :P**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!**

* * *

As I slowly began drifting back to consciousness after hours of being fast asleep, my tired and slight hung-over brain cells noticed the weirdness of something that I wasn't really fully awake yet, to put my finger on. I sighed contently, smiling to myself while being somewhere between awake and asleep. It was nice. The muffled sound of honking cars and busses could be heard, along with the faint twittering of a bird gone astray in the middle of London and the yelling of some couple a floor below us; it really was quite peaceful though.

As my eyelids slowly fluttered open I was looking upon a white wall, the sunlight from the un-curtained window reflecting itself in the bright color, hurting my eyes. Suddenly – my brain cells already working better than they had five minutes earlier – I noticed that weird thing again, which had puzzled me only moments before. Now though, I realized it was because the 'pillow' I was using was moving; the pillow in fact being Sirius' bare chest. _Bare!_

I sat up so violently that my sight blackened for a moment, as the bed screeched back and forth in protest. Sirius jerked up as well, his grey eyes wide and alarmed.

"What's happening?" he asked me, grasping for his wand that lay beside him on the bedside table.

"I… did we… you know…" I tried to voice my inner and most frightening thought, though found it pretty difficult to even utter more than three words combined. Nonetheless he seemed to the grasp the point rather quickly, sighing relieved since no threat seemed apparent after all.

"We did," he simply replied with a wink, "If I'd known you were such great shag, I definitely would have done it a lot sooner."

My heart, my head, my _body _seemed to stop as I let his words sink in. We had- I couldn't even think it, without mentally kicking myself repeatedly. How stupid did you have to be to _shag _Sirius Black, when you've sworn yourself and _everyone else _that you would keep it on a friendly level? Oh god, what wouldn't Remus think when he heard-?

"Hayley," his voice drifted through the haziness of my great confusion and regret, "I was joking. We didn't _do _what you think we did."

I stared at him for a long moment, hard, before punching him square in the chest.

"Ouch," he said and rubbed the spot where my fist had connected with his skin, "Did you really think we- I'm a good and honest guy you know-"

"I know," I told him hastily, just looking forward to drop the subject as I couldn't hide the blush from showing in embarrassment, "Just… let it go, 'kay?"

He nodded before stretching his arms way over his head while yawning loudly. I couldn't help but noticed how quidditch had done wonders for his body. That six-pack was simply- _Stop it!_

"I'll go fetch us breakfast," he muttered before getting up.

"You can cook?" Somehow the thought of Sirius standing behind the stove with an apron on, cooking, did _not _seem to fit him very well… maybe because I visualized him with a pink apron?

"'_Fetch'_, Hayley," he grinned, "There's a coffee shop across the road. It has the best bagels of whole London."

And then he left, running off to get us some of those 'best-of-whole-London'-bagels. While he was out I decided it time to finally change back into my own clothes, which by now had dried (almost) completely, if you looked past the slight clamminess of it.

My head was buzzing like a building side in the early morning, leaving me to poke around in all of his cupboards in hope of finding some pills that would take the pain. I was close to sitting in one of them, checking each and every corner in hope of finding just a single pill as Sirius' voice brought me back to… well, normal behavior.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" he asked me very slowly.

"I'm looking for pills," I admitted just as slowly, crawling out of the low cupboard.

"Aspirin?"

"Yes," I nodded immediately regretting it as the movement just unleashed another wave of pain to my head. I sat on the floor staring up at him as he stared down at me, expectantly, "What?"

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"The magic words," he grinned.

"Please?"

"Word_s_, Hayley," he rolled his eyes, the grin turning into a smirk, "I need three, please. Here's a hint; what are you?"

Realization finally dawned on me and I just stuck my tongue out at him before resigning, "I'm hung-over, majorly."

"That was in fact four words. I just needed to hear the 'I'm hung-over'-part. Thanks for the majorly though, it added a nice touch to the sentence," he winked before walking to one of the cupboards. From inside it he pulled a small white bottle that I recognized as one of the typical containers for painkillers.

"I was sure I checked that one…" I muttered (mostly to myself) as he handed the bottle to me.

"Yeah, I bet you did," he said, before pulling me back to my feet, "And now, tell me, Hayley Thorne; how often _do_ you drink so much that you pass out in the arms of a guy, who by the way is carrying you home to _his _apartment?"

I turned my back at him, grabbing a glass from one of the shelves we'd filled up the day earlier, pouring water into it before I swallowed two of the pills. I knew he only wanted to mock me, embarrass me, but I could play that game, too.

"I do remember you punching that bartender after sulking for the whole evening," I spoke calmly, my back still turned to him.

"Who said I was sulking?" he said, smirk clear in his voice. I turned round to find the smirk visible on his face as well, though his posture seemed somewhat reserved, tense.

"No one, I just guessed it."

"Well, I wasn't. In fact I was speaking to Bobby," he continued indifferent.

"About what?"

"You know; stuff," he muttered, changing the subject, "So now that you _apparently _recall everything so clearly, can you remember that you cried?"

I blushed, furiously, hitting myself on the forehead (not very good for the headache… ouch). I grimaced at him, "Did I... Did I _say _anything?"

"That no guy has ever punched anyone else for you."

"Anything else?" I continued, knowing that something was being left out.

"You kissed me," he smiled though his eyes were cast to the floor, "On the cheek."

"Are you blushing?" I wondered out loud almost breaking out in laughter. Sirius was _blushing_! His grey eyes shot up to meet mine in a perfect glare.

"I'm not."

"You are," I sang, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Not!"

"Are! And now shush! Where are those bagels?" I grinned as my stomach growled hungrily.

He rolled his eyes, "It's a wonder that you're not already fat." He pulled the bag of bagels out from seemingly nowhere behind his back. That's the problem with magic – you never know when it's fake or real.

"I know, and now; hand over those bagels or someone is going to get hurt, 'someone' being you," I told him, serious, meaning each and every word as if it was a matter of life or death.

"Are you threatening me?" he laughed. I narrowed my eyes at the tone of it.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I am."

"Hayley, I play quidditch; my body's trained in every possible way, whereas you don't really exercise that much-"

"Believe me when I tell you this, Sirius; I've had Remus locked up in positions that are sure to be illegal in this country, positions that are _very _painful, simply because he was withholding food from me. So now, hand over the food." (Okay, some of that may have come out the wrong way, but there was no time fixing that now!)

"You really are serious," It wasn't a question anymore but a realization of his part, "Well, then I better… put it on top of the fridge," and in one fluid movement - just like the way he'd been stretching earlier that morning - he put the small bag containing the bagels onto the fridge and thereby _way _out of my reach.

"You asked for it," I told him, before I flung myself at him like a wild animal on its prey.

_5 minutes later…_

We were lying on the floor of his living room; Sirius on his stomach and me sitting on top of him, arm round his neck in the perfect wrestling grip. We were both panting from the little 'discussion' and my stomach was still growling furiously.

"Yeah, I give up alright," he resigned.

I slowly got off him, pushing my hair out of my eyes, before turning my back on him, walking to the kitchen; big mistake. In less than a heartbeat, I felt his arms wound themselves around my waist pulling me closer to his body as he whispered some very wise words to me, "Never turn your back to an enemy, Hales." Then he fell back onto the couch with me still locked firmly in his grasp, making me screech.

I guess round two had just started. The couch was quite big as it was a sleeping couch (which we'd prepared the day earlier for me to sleep in) so we had plenty of room to move around.

"Sirius, get off me!" I half-screamed as he sat on top of me, though keeping most of his weight off my tiny frame.

"Never," he grinned evilly, before starting to tickle me all-over.

"N-n-o!" I laughed, my feet kicking wildly into the air, not hitting anything at all though, "Sirius!"

"Yes, darling?" he spoke in an affectionate manner, continuing his torturing.

"Pl-pl-PLEASE!"

"'Please' what? I'm afraid I cannot understand what you're babbling about, my love" the manner of voice and tone he used reminded me of the way they spoke in old novels like those by Jane Austen or any of the Bronte-sisters. It was an old-fashioned form of British and I had to admit it suited him in a weird sort of way. Hell, it's weird just being able to say that a certain accent suits someone!

"Sto-sto-sto," I tried, not even able to finish the short word 'stop', simply lacking the oxygen to do so.

"Do you mean 'stone' or perhaps it is 'stonker' although I really do doubt that," he grinned as I tried to glare at him between laughs.

"STOP!" I yelled loud enough so that the (still) arguing couple below us probably even heard it.

"Oh, 'stop'! Why didn't you just say so," he grinned before getting off me, "Still up for bagels now that we know who the better wrestler of us is?"

I followed him with my eyes, catching my breath. It didn't take me long to decide on my next move; I jumped up from the couch and onto Sirius' back, my arms locking themselves tight around his throat.

"What the-?" he half-laughed in response to my sudden attack.

"Round three," I giggled, making ding-noises just like the bell at a boxing match.

So; we didn't really succeed in out-packing that much that day really… oops?

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**A/N: Hi again! You know the drill ;) See ya!**

**-Marie**


	20. Ruining The Moment!

**Hello! Writing is coming along slowly these days, but believe me when I'm saying that I'm doing my best at keeping the updates somewhat regular ^_^'**

**This chapter is actually consisting of events happening on three different days. The first 'paragraph' or whatever you would like to call it, picks up an hour or so after the last chapter, whereas the two others are from some of the following days… I hope you can understand the meaning of that little – ehm – briefing? ;P**

**Anyway, there you go; chapter 20! Yay! ^o^**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!**

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I was sitting on the window sill in the living room, munching my bagel while watching as the first snow slowly fell from above and onto the streets of London. My head was still buzzing furiously due to the hang-over, the painkillers not really helping me at all.

"How are you?" Sirius asked as he entered the room, two cups of steaming hot coffee in his hands. He handed me one of them, and I enjoyed its warmth as I held it close to me.

"Fine," I said, "I'm not that bad at holding my liquor, you know."

He snorted, "If you say so."

"_Anyway," _I continued, "How did you even know that place – The Lunar Rose?"

"Well, when we – Remus, James and I – were about 12, I think, we were stumbling through London, not knowing where the heck we'd landed-"

"But didn't you live here?"

"I did – with my parent who wouldn't let me out in the non-magical world," He rolled his eyes, "I only had a chance to see London during the night when I would sneak out. Anyway; we were lost and didn't have a clue where to go, not even knowing that our parents was searching the town frantically for any sign of us – well, James' and Remus' were anyway. At last we ended up at the Lunar Rose and Bobby took care of us until our parents finally found us," he finished with shrug, "Not much of a story really."

"Well, I don't know about that," I said with a smile, before declaring dramatically, "_Three boys lost in one huge city – Will they make it? Follow them while they uncover the hidden secrets of the magical London!"_

"Aren't you a little drama queen," he muttered, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.

"Not at all," I said just as the phone began to chime from the corner.

Sirius grimaced, "That's probably for you."

"Why? Isn't this _your _apartment?"

"Yes, but you kinda called Remus last night while you were drunk and probably said some things you shouldn't ha-" I didn't give him a chance to finish as I suddenly darted from my seat and to the phone.

"Hi?" I said once I'd picked it up, the chiming immediately stopping its torturing of my poor head.

"Hayley!" Remus exclaimed from the other end of the line, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," I still had no idea what I'd told him the night earlier, but it had apparently been enough to scare him to pieces.

"Blimey!" he sighed sounding relived, "When you called me last evening talking about vampires and fights, I was sure you'd gotten yourself into trouble-"

"Hey!" I said affronted.

"You know it's true," he groaned before an awkward silence fell upon us.

I shifted a bit, leaning my back up against the wall. I noticed how Sirius would glance at me from time to time – to make sure that I was OK, I guess.

"I'm sorry I freaked you out," I mumbled into the telephone, turning my back as Sirius' grey eyes once again bore into mine.

"No problem," he sighed sounding very tired all of a sudden, "By the way; your grandma keeps asking me when you'll be home."

"It won't be long. We're close to finished with this place," I said.

"Okay. Well; bye, Hales."

"Bye, Remus," I hung up before turning back to face Sirius, "When do you think we'll be done here?"

"A day or two," he said, eyes scanning the room, "We're practically done already."

"Great," I muttered to myself, walking back to the window sill and my cup of coffee.

…

"Hayleeeey," Sirius whined.

"Yeeeees," I replied, my eyes still locked firmly onto the page of the book in my lap.

"You wanna go out?" As he saw my reaction he quickly altered it, "I mean like go out for a walk, not a date or anything."

I thought about it for a moment and decided it maybe wasn't such a bad idea after all. I nodded.

We quickly prepared ourselves for the harsh cold outside, wearing think jackets, gloves and scarves (Gryffindor colored of course!). I even got a chance of using my red beret, which hadn't been used for ages.

The weather outside was nice; the sky was a clear blue and a fresh layer of snow adorned the sidewalks. As we walked out of the alley leading up to his apartment block (for some reason he really enjoyed using the fire escape ladder) he offered me his arm like a proper gentleman. Still I eyed it critically for a moment or two before saying, "What the heck," linking it with my own.

We walked for what seemed to be hours although I didn't care at all; we crossed Westminster Bridge seeing Big Ben towering at its end, the Parliament being right next to it. We walked by Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, before taking a spin round Hyde Park, in which all kinds of carousels where standing. Christmas lights adorned the trees in the park and children ran around giggling, playing tag or other games, while their parents watched them with content smiles.

"It's the Winter Wonderland," he smiled at me, noticing how I couldn't take my eyes of it, "Come on," he dragged me inside and over to a huge skating area, grown-ups and children gliding effortless across the ice.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Sirius," I muttered as he got us a pair of skates.

"Don't worry, Hales. I'm a splendid ice skater," he smiled.

"Well, I'm not," I muttered under my breath, glaring at the pair of skates he handed me.

"Put them on," he encouraged and as I tried to argue, he simply repeated himself, "Put them on."

Much to my dismay I did as he asked, feeling the uncomfortable weight of them as I tied them tight. He had already skated off as I tried getting to my feet without falling, leaving me with a somewhat grumpy attitude. Here he went and convinced me to go skating even though I _knew _I'd go on and break something, just so he could go on flirting with some redhead (Of course I didn't see him with any redhead… but that's not the point)!

I smiled triumphantly as I succeeded in standing on my own. BANG! Somehow – without moving at all – I had still accomplished to fall on my ass. I blew the stray curls of dark hair out of my face, already regretting that I hadn't tied them up earlier that day.

Suddenly a hand appeared in front of my face, and looking up I met a certain pair of grey eyes.

"Take my hand," Sirius smiled softly.

I took it though glaring heavily at him as he dragged me back to my feet.

"Watch," he said before skating away from me, showing me how to move my feet proper. "And now; do it with me," he smirked at the dirty ring to it before dragging me along with him on the ice.

It felt wonderful, being able to cross the ice without any great effort, almost flying. I enjoyed the feel of the cold wind as it gathered my hair, my gloved hand locked in a firm grip with Sirius'. We would even laugh as he sometimes would break away from me to do a mini pirouette before returning to me.

It was actually going quite well, before I somehow lost my balance falling backwards onto the ice, dragging Sirius with me. He used his arms to brace his fall and thereby _not _landing directly on top of me.

"Bloody hell, Hales, are you trying to kill me?" he half-laughed, still seeming a bit shocked by the rapid fall.

"No?" I smiled innocently.

Once again I tried blowing the curls out of my face, frowning slightly in annoyance.

"Let me do that," Sirius muttered, lifting a gloved hand to push the rebellious locks out of my face. His hand lingered for moment at my cheek, cupping my face perfectly. My breath caught for unexplainable reasons as he looked me into the eyes, an odd smile playing on his lips.

A perfect moment…

"Do you need any help?"

Ruined by the perfect idiot!

Sirius drew his hand back as I hastily looked aside, avoiding his piercing gaze.

"No," Sirius answered, slowly getting to his feet next to the helpful fellow.

"You ruined it," his girlfriend was standing at his elbow, tugging his jacket vigorously.

"Ruined what, Shelly?" the man asked her.

"Their _moment!" _she declared excitedly.

"Don't think about it," Sirius smiled smoothly, helping me to my feet.

"I'm _so _sorry," she said, eyes on me.

"We're only friends," I said but even to me my voice sounded hollow and without any meaning.

"Shelly, we should go now," her boyfriend said, "Goodbye."

As they skated away from us, it was easy to pick up on the girls shrill voice continuingly insisting, "You ruined it!"

"Bye," Sirius called after them, before turning to me with a playful glint in his eyes, "Crazy people; there're everywhere."

I nodded, not knowing whether to shout out in frustration or sigh in pure relieve.

…

I was holding on to him for dear life as we sped through the countryside. It was a nice day; sun was shining and birds were twittering, and as we got closer to my grandmother's house, the layer of snow on the fields and in the towns got thicker and thicker.

We'd left his apartment that morning deciding that we really couldn't do much more unpacking. The furniture had been put together and pictures had been hung on the walls; it was ready to live in. So we'd gathered the stuff we needed and jumped onto his bike, making our way through the early Londoner traffic.

I didn't know how long we'd been driving, but suddenly we were there, the two single houses appearing in the distance, and I couldn't help my heart from leaping in happiness; I was home again.

Sirius pulled up in front of the house, bringing the engine to a stop. I jumped off almost falling over as my feet connected with the iced ground. Sirius caught me by my arm, stabilizing me until I found footing again.

"Hales, watch your step, 'kay?" Sirius said, hiding a grin.

I stuck my tongue out at him, playfully, before I half-ran inside to greet my grandmother. She was standing in the kitchen, the delicious smell of cookies spreading through the rest of the house.

"Grandma!" I exclaimed, watching her from the doorway.

She turned around and smiled at me, "Hayley."

I went to her and hugged her tightly, before letting go of her again.

"There's someone you have to meet," I said, before taking a hold of her hand and leading her outside.

Sirius was calmly leaning up against his bike, fidgeting with a loose thread on his glove. Remus was standing in front of him, talking in a low tone.

"Remus?" I asked not able to contain a small smile from working its way out.

He turned to me just as I engulfed him in what was sure to be a bone-crushing hug. He chuckled at me.

"Geez, Hayley, you would think we'd been separated for years and not a week," he said.

"I know," I said, pulling away from him at last, "I just missed you."

"And I missed you," he smiled.

Returning my attention to Sirius I couldn't help but notice the way he just stood in there in awkward silence, playing around with his glove. I gave him a reassuring smile, before I walked to stand beside him.

"Grandmother; this is Sirius Black. He's a… friend of Remus and me," I introduced.

"Well, it's very nice meeting you Sirius," she smiled, shaking his hand.

"You, too, Mrs. Thorne," he said politely.

"Please, call me Anne; I always hate it when people call me Mrs. Thorne; it makes me feel so old," she smiled, "And now get inside everyone, I've backed cookies."

I linked my arms with the boys and together we went inside.

It was great being home again.

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**Hiya! So there you go – Chapter 20! Hope you liked it, because it took me quite some time to actually figure out _what _to do with this chapter ;P ABOUT THE LONDONER GEOGRAPHY: I've never been to London (Might as well tell you that immediately) so all the famous sightings there're seeing have been found on a map via Google… Basically: If I got something wrong; tell me and I'll fix it ;D Anyway; leave a review! See ya!**

**-Marie**


	21. Bestest And Oldest Of Friends

**Sorry for the hiatus.. Author note at the bottom.**

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review! **

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The moon was shining in all its receding glory, the stars helping it to light up the sky. The snow was thick and I had to put twice as much strength into each movement of my legs than usual. It was hard and exhausting to the point that I considered returning to the warmth of my grandmother's house, but I also knew that I needed the place and time to think for a bit.  
It wasn't like there was anything really big going on, which would need the extra thought. I was content; happy to be home again, so maybe I just needed a few minutes to rejoice that, away from any kind of disruptions…

"Hales, you'll freeze to death in that outfit."

… So much to being alone.

I turned around, almost falling over my own feet with the snow weighing me down. The soft light of the moonlight illuminated his face and its scars as Remus smiled at me crookedly, hands thrust into the pockets of his coat.

"I'm feeling perfectly fine," I lied, suppressing the shivers of cold from showing too much.

"Liar," he mocked. At times it truly scared me how well he knew me (and then there were times were it annoyed the living Merlin out of me – in a friendly way of course). I really couldn't keep anything from him.

"So where's Sirius?"

"He's getting settled," he said, before adding with a small grin, "And smooth way to change the subject by the way."

"Well, thank you!" I smiled, bowing a little, "It did take a lot of effort."

"I bet it did."

"What are you doing out here anyway?" I asked him, "It's freezing!"

"I was actually about to ask you the same thing."

"I wanted to go for a walk," I answered, noticing how the wind ruffled his hair, "You can join if you want to."

It was too dark for me to see, but I knew he would be chewing the inside of his chin, thinking and deliberating whether or not he should go. He hated rushing things and always took his time when deciding on something – even on something as simple as taking a walk apparently.

"Sure," he smiled, walking up to me.

"Has someone ever told you that you have a knack for being too thoughtful?"

"Sure," he said as we headed for the fields and forest, "You've told me so tons of times."

We continued small-talking and teasing each other all the way across the field separating our houses from the forest. It belonged to my grandmother – the forest that is – as did much of the surrounding land, and Remus and I had always played there back when we were younger. We walked the paths, remembering the way as clearly as had we just used it the day before.

Without much thought we ended up in our usual clearing; our makeshift swings out of tires hung in an oak tree at the end and just to the left of it…

"Oh my- Is that our tree house?" I laughed, noticing the familiar silhouette.

"I thought dad tore that away years ago," Remus mused.

I bit my lower lip, "You wanna take a peak?"

"A peak?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Are you suggesting that we should climb up and sit in a sure to be very rotten tree house, which haven't been used for at least ten years?"

"No, that would be foolish!" I exclaimed, grinning wickedly at him, "It's only seven years ago or so. Come on; last one there is a chicken."

I started running, making the distance in an okay time, taking the snow and my bad shape into account. Remus walked after me, chuckling under his breath, like some dad watching his child running off to play.

The robe ladder leading up to the small tree house looked stable – and not nearly as long as I remembered.

"Remus, come on!" I called, climbing the ladder.

For some reason, seeing this place again made me feel giddy. I started remembering all the great times we'd have out here; playing, talking, discovering and dreaming. I guess all kids have that one special place, where some of their earliest and best memories took place – and this was mine.

I pulled myself up and got a look at the inside of the tree house, suddenly feeling the buzz of forgotten memories that were coming to life once again.

That one time when I'd fallen out of the tree, almost giving Remus a stroke in the ripe age of six. I actually lost my first tooth that day.

Or that other time when Remus and I'd got chased up into the tree by a maniacal deer. We hadn't dared leave the hut afterwards. Even after it'd left, we stayed in fear it might return.

Or that one time when-

"Hales, your butt's blocking the entrance," Remus grunted from somewhere below me, pulling me out of my own thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Your butt's blocking-" he started repeating, but I was just realizing on my own, that I hadn't really moved off the ladder yet.

Moving away, Remus had a clear path and quickly followed. I pulled my wand out of my back pocket, muttering the incantation for bluebell flames. The light blue flames started dancing across the wooden floor of the hut – without burning it of course.

The light highlighted Remus' face and made him seem younger, which only added to my continuous state of flashbacks. We'd known each other for so many years now…

"Can you forgive me?" I whispered softly.

He looked at me with a frown, "For what?"

"Being the worst best friend ever," I admitted, feeling miserable. I'd neglected him so much during the past couple of months – it had started to tear at my heart and soul.

"Hales-"

"I guess I've just been so used to not having you around me physically for so many years now, that I forgot how you should treat your best friends. I'm so sorry-"

"It's okay, Hayley," he said, his voice soft.

"I just got caught up with-" I stopped myself from saying the name, even though we both knew who and what I was referring to: _Sirius. _

"He likes you, you know."

"Why would he?" I asked, "We're friends. And he could have anyone after all-"

"But not you," Remus replied, his face set in an unreadable mask. "You're the only girl who ever said no."

"I… How…" I stammered. Did he know that Sirius had asked me out the same night, we'd helped James and Lily together? I knew Lily could have a hard time keeping such things to herself, but the idea of her telling such a thing to _Remus_? It didn't make sense to me.

"You didn't just fall for his good looks," Remus explained, while I sighed in pure relieve; Lily had kept her mouth after all.

"You turned out being a challenge for him," Remus continued, "That intrigues him."

"Remus, he and I are just frien-"

"Hayley, he's my best friend; I know such things," Remus' tone turned harder and I could practically hear how much his mate's (supposed!) infatuation with his best friend annoyed him.

"Why is this so important to you?" I asked him. I didn't dare look him in the eyes, so instead I watched the flames as they continued to lick at the unharmed wood.

"Because you deserve better."

I frowned, saying: "He's your best friend-"

"I know," I could him gulp from where I was sitting, "But you're like a sister to me, Hales, and I know how he acts around women; it's not very serious to him."

"Remus, I really appreciate you looking out for me, but you have to let me live my own life," I said, "I'm not saying that I love him or that I even like him in that way, but you need to trust me. Trust us."

Both of us fell silent from there on, not daring saying another thing. For the tiniest bit of a moment, I realized this had been the reason why Remus had been deliberating this walk so much; he'd wanted to have this talk. He'd just needed to decide whether or not to break it to me now or later. That wasn't important though and the thought fled my mind as quickly as it had formed.

"Remus," I whispered at last, my own voice sounding harsh in the soft sound of the night, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" his voice didn't give way to any of his thoughts and I was left rather clueless as to guessing how he felt.

"I don't know," I continued lamely, sounding like some scolded child.

And then the strangest thing happened. For no apparent reason Remus Lupin started to laugh and I'm not speaking of a chuckle or a small good-hearted laugh – no, he was laughing his head off; once again leaving me completely clueless. Before I knew it, I was laughing, too, and for a few moments it felt just like the old days. Back when we were younger and hadn't worried about things like love and infatuations.

For a few moments we were just Hayley Thorne and Remus Lupin; the bestest and oldest of friends.

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**A/N: Sorry.. I really didn't mean to leave you hanging for half a year. I've had to deal with some problems and things in my life that – in collaboration with a serious case of writer's block – kept me from writing. Words can't even express how sorry I am.. I just hope you'll forgive me and still read (and hopefully review) this story, because I'm planning on finishing it – no matter the costs!**

**I'm in the process of reviewing this story by myself, correcting old flaws and such and I've come realize that I'm missing a chapter or two.. And I'm talking about Remus-chapters. I'm writing them as we speak.. or… ehm… as I write ^_^' and I'll tell you when they're done and uploaded ;)**

**This chapter is dedicated to all the Remus-lovers, who I've neglected too much It's not the best chapter I'm afraid, but I hope it works as an okay bandage.. For the moment! ^_^ Remus will also show a bit more of his "fun"-side in the upcoming updates as well as in the (minor) corrections I'll make to the story.**

**Once again I'm terribly sorry for the unofficial hiatus! Be nice and review, fave or PM me ;) any kind of feedback is nice**

**-Marie**


	22. Proposing And Embarrassing Names

**Enjoy!**

**Read & Review!**

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"I had _no _idea that I missed this so much," I smiled, my head propped upon his chest for a better view at the television.

"Me neither," Remus responded, "but couldn't you have chosen a different movie?"

"Hey! _The Rocky Horror Picture Show _is a classic."

He snorted though I chose not to scold him since I suddenly noticed the song playing. I jumped up from the sofa and grabbed the nearest bottle of water.

"Nope," he shook his head at me with a bemused grin, "You remember last time when we watched _The Aristocats'_?"

"You did an amazing cover of Thomas O'Malley though," I smiled sheepishly as he shot me a glare.

"No. I won't sing."

"Pleas- oh! That's my part," I screeched excitedly.

I had always loved Columbia's part in that particular song; it was simply so much more fun to sing, than the rest of it.

"_Well I was walking down the street just having a think__  
__When a snake of a guy gave me an evil wink__  
__He shook me up, he took me by surprise__  
__He had a pickup truck and the devil's eyes.__  
__He stared at me and I felt a change__  
__Time meant nothing, never would again!" _I sang loudly while dancing around the living room, "Come, Remus. Dance with me!"

I pulled him to his feet just as the instructions began;

_It's just a jump to the left…_

I did as ordered while Remus stood a bit awkwardly beside me.

"Come on, Remy," I urged using his old nickname.

"Don't call me that," he muttered, embarrassed. The name still invoked bad memories, I guessed; it had been the name his grandmother always used for him, and she'd been one of those 'Give me a BIG, FAT kiss'-kinda women - horrifying and traumatizing on _so _many levels.

_And then a step to the right…_

Once again, I did as the song suggested enthusiasm clear in my movements. Even Remus sidestepped a bit.

_With your hands on the hips…._

_And bring your knees in tight!_

Slowly, Remus started enjoying himself, and a smile appeared on his lips as he mimicked my posture.

"See, it's not that bad, is it?" I giggled, not really able to stop again. Seeing him dance was kind of… off, although most guys probably look off with their hands propped on their hips while twisting and turning. It was rather entertaining to be honest.

He simply rolled his eyes in response.

_It's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane!_

"Mine surely does," a smug voice said from the doorway.

Both Remus and I jumped into the air at the sudden interruption.

"Sirius!" I exclaimed throwing the nearest pillow at him, "Shut up!"

Due to what I guessed was excellent quidditch reflexes he dodged it easily, a mischievous grin playing on his lips (He was like the Cheshire Cat; pure mischief and evil).

"Hey, slow down, Hayley," he laughed entering the room, "By the way Moony; nice moves."

Remus groaned, "I won't hear the end of this, right?"

"Nope," he said, "I'll owl James later to tell him, too."

"What are you doing here anyway; I thought you were… what were you actually doing?" I asked, crossing my arms. He'd unpacked the night before, so what had he been up to in the meantime.

"Well, I started my day by taking a shower. Then I had breakfast; two fried eggs, three slices of toast and a glass of orange juice. Then I went to the loo-" he began explaining before I cut him out.

"Okay! I didn't want to know _every _detail of your day," I said slowly. "I just thought it funny that you've been hiding all day apparently."

"Not hiding. Going to the loo and many other exciting places," he grinned at me. I knew he was keeping something from me, but since he wouldn't tell, why should I bother? Scratch that - Note to self: FIND OUT WHAT SIRIUS IS HIDING.

"Well, you wanna see the rest of the movie, Remus?" I asked him, ignoring the secretive twat beside me.

Remus frowned, before nodding, slowly. "Sure," he looked at me for a second before adding, "You wanna join us, Padfoot?"

I frowned. Why was Remus inviting Sirius to join, when the former was so bothered by the latter's supposed infatuation in former's best friend? Wow... that sounded confusing – and didn't make any sense at all. Maybe he wanted to show me that he in fact did trust me. Even around Sirius.

I didn't even hear Sirius' response, but it seemed to have been yes, since we all took a seat on the sofa, which suddenly felt uncomfortably small. It reminded me of the drive back to the Potters, where James, Sirius and I had been squished into the backseat; much like now it seemed. I didn't dare move, too afraid to stir the boys since we were sitting elbow by elbow... by elbow.

The movie kept playing like nothing had changed even though everything had changed. From the corner of my eye, I noticed how Remus would glance, first at me and then at Sirius. And glancing at Sirius... well, his eyes shifted only from the television and to me.

I gulped, feeling the awkwardness of the moment creep under my skin and making me nervous. As Sirius casually draped his arm on the back of the sofa – just behind my seat – I felt close to bursting, my heart going at a million miles per hour rate.

Silently, I prayed for a miracle. I needed some kind of distraction, so I could make a run for it and get away from this sofa...

"Hayley, there's phone for you!"

Never before had I been so happy to hear my grandmother's voice.

She walked into the living room and upon noticing us, only uttered a soft: "Oh."

"If you're busy," she added, "I'm sure they can call later-"

"No, no!" I exclaimed a bit too loud and a bit too quick, "I'll just take the call now."

"Should we pause it?" Remus asked, referring to the movie.

"Don't bother," I smiled, "I've seen it before as you know."

Remus nodded and I winked at the boys, "Don't miss me too much."

For once the boys seemed to agree on something around me; they both rolled their eyes in response.

I hurried into the kitchen, where my grandma kept her phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Honey?" an all too familiar voice responded.

"Mum?" I asked confused.

"Yes, honey; it's mum-"

"And dad!" a just as familiar voice called in from somewhere in the background.

"And your dad," my mother added with a slight chuckle. I knew she only added it for his sake.

"How are you?" I practically yelled in joy.

I hadn't talked to my parents in months and with all things going on (or in one word: Hogwarts) I hadn't even had the time to realize just how much I actually missed them. But talking to them now – I felt myself aching for one of my mum's tasty Christmas cookies and for the tree hunts with my dad, which we used to do each year – even while living in India and Australia.

I was suddenly feeling homesick – months worth of unbelievable homesickness.

"We're fine, honey," my mother answered, and I swear I could hear her smile as she added, "But I'd much rather hear something about that young man you've invited home for Christmas."

Oh. _Boy_.

"We're friends," I said a bit too quickly, hoping she'd just forget about it if I just skipped the question. "How's India?"

"It's hot. Like last time we were here," she chuckled, clearly finding amusement in my weak attempt to skip questions. My mother had always been able to tell my thoughts by just taking one look at me. Apparently she could hear such things, too. If it hadn't been turned at me, I might've called it impressing, but being the victim – not so much.

"It's India, mum. Of course it's hot. What did you expect?"

"More air-condition," she joked. "But now tell me, how are you? How's Hogwarts? Have you gotten many new friends? Are you-" etc. etc.

I must have been answering questions for hours – or so it felt like anyway.

After lots of "how have you been"'s and "how are you grades"' and "have you made some nice friends"', she finally asked the much dreaded question – or re-asked actually.

"So about that boy of yours..." she started, letting the sentence trail of on its own.

"First off, he's not _my _boy. And second, do we really need to talk about this now?"

"Okay, when would be a good time for you to talk about it then?"

"I don't know. Let's say... in 10 years or so-"

"Hayley!" my mother exclaimed, "You have a boy staying – For Christmas! That's huge."

"Are you talking about that boy?" my dad's voice called from the background once again, and it wasn't exactly hard to pick up on the slight edge to his voice. "Let me talk to her."

"Have I any reason to be worried?" I quickly asked my mum, before she handed my dad the phone.

"Not at all, Hayley. You know your dad," she sighed, and once again I swear I could hear her roll her eyes – frankly, I couldn't blame her.

My dad might be tall, but he was a skinny and peaceful man; he came after my grandma in that way – barely wanting to swat a fly even if it kept annoying him.

That... and he was geek.

I knew he would be adjusting his glasses at the moment, pushing them farther up the bridge of his nose, while preparing himself to "argue".

"Hayley," he started, and for a moment he actually sounded nervous although I had no idea as to why he would be. "I know you're a responsible and mature young woman now. And as being so, it is only natural that you may start becoming... ehm... curious... about the... ehm... male gender-"

"Dad," I interrupted him confused and slightly amused, "Are you talking about sex?"

"I... ehm... was about to," he stammered in a low voice, and suddenly his nervousness made sense to me – and I couldn't help laughing.

"Dad," I said in between the laughs, "Mum and I had that conversation when I was 12 or so."

"Oh," he sighed, clearly relieved.

"And me and that boy; we're just friends."

"Thank God," he muttered under his breath, "I'll just hand the phone over to your mother again and go be... embarrassed. Love you, honey."

"Love you, too, Dad," I smiled, forgetting that he couldn't _actually _see me.

Rustling followed as the phone changed hands once again, going back to my mother.

"How bad was it?" my mum immediately asked me, slowly adding, "And why is you dad slapping himself on the forehead?"

"It's alright," I grinned, "It was fun."

"Good," she responded, not seeming to be troubled any furtherer as she quickly said, "And now, do you have a crush?"

"Mum!" I shrieked.

"What? You've had boyfriends before-"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I'll tell you about each crush that I may or may not have-"

"Oh, please, Hayley! _Please!_" she whined.

"We're friends-"

"Please!"

"Friends!"

"Pleas-"

"Mum, you're not listening," I exclaimed exasperated, not succeeding in hiding a smile from tugging at the edges of my lips. Lucky me, that we were on the phone - she would never have given up on the subject, seeing such a reaction.

"I am listening," she said, her voice soft, "But I know you well enough to know that you would never invite a boy home if you didn't feel at least a little bit-"

"Don't say it," I groaned, banging my head against the wall beside the phone, "Please don't say-"

"... Attracted."

"Mum, I'm not 'attracted' to Sirius Bla-"

"Black?" she finished.

"Yeah," I said, feeling somewhat confused. I was pretty sure that I hadn't mentioned his last name to her. "How did you know?"

She snorted. "I've worked in London, Hayley. I know the big names there and trust me; 'Black' is one of the biggest and most influential."

"How come?"

"His family is known for believing in certain... values. Hasn't he told you?"

"No," I said, feeling kind of lame; my mother - who had never even met Sirius - knew more about him than I did. In some way it actually hurt a little. "He doesn't like talking about his family," I added, like it was some kind of excuse for_ me_.

"I don't blame him," she replied, pity creeping into her voice.

"But what values were you talking about?"

"I really think he should tell you, honey," she said, "It's his family after all."

"But-"

"Honey, I have to go now. Ask him yourself," she said before adding in a much more cheerful tone, "and merry Christmas! Greet Remus and grandma. Love you!"

And then she hung up, leaving me to listen to the bibbing of the phone, while thoughts raced at a million miles per hour rate through my head.

_Bib. Bib._

Who were the Black's exactly?

_Bib. Bib._

Why were they apparently so infamous?

_Bib. Bib._

And what could be so awful about Sirius' past that he didn't wanna talk about it?

I knew the only way to get any answers would be for me to confront him; an idea that I really didn't like.

He probably had his reasons, right? It's not usual anyway; going around and boasting about your family.

But it's not normal, _not _wanting to talk about them at all either, is it?

In that moment I realized that I really only had two options about this. One, I could talk to him about it and risk he'll get upset with me for snooping (which I didn't want) or two, I could just leave the matter alone and never get my answers (which I didn't want either).

Option one it was then.

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Since Sirius and Remus had cleared out of the living room, I decided to go to my room. It was getting dark anyway, so I figured I might as well get some 'me'-time before having to confront a certain someone. Walking up the stairs – taking two at a time (I was never really the patient type) – I drifted off in thoughts, imagining myself snuggling up under the covers of my bed with a good book in hand.

In fact I was so caught up with my own thoughts, that I didn't even notice the person sitting on the edge of my bed as I entered.

"Hey," I jumped at the sound of his voice, all thoughts about books and covers suddenly abandoned.

"Sirius," I gasped, "you startled me."

"Sorry; I know my good looks can be quite choking at times, but I thought you would've gotten used to it by now," he grinned wolfishly at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I thought I would've gotten used to your bad jokes and arrogance by now, too. Guess we're all a little bit surprised."

"Ouch," he said in mock hurt. "Oh, how you hurt me, Hayley."

"I'm sure your ego will live through it. What did you want anyway?"

He frowned lightly, his eyes darting towards the window for a second. Then he looked at me and shot me a mischievous grin – that really made me nervous.

In one fluid movement he stood up, and closed the short distance between us in a couple of strides. He took my hand in his and he got down on one knee. You'd almost think he was about to pro... pro... propo... I couldn't even think it. It was simply too ridiculous.

Naturally, I started laughing (in slight hysterics).

"Sirius, what are you-"

"Hayley Gráinne Thorne-"

"How did you know my middle name?" I exclaimed, choked. I hadn't mentioned that name to anyone for at least 10 years and I sure as hell hadn't mentioned it to anyone at Hogwarts. Except... "Remus."

He nodded, still grinning like he was about to win the lottery. It didn't exactly help calming my nerves, as I was getting more and more flustered for every second passing.

"Hayley Gráinne Thorne," he repeated, clearly enjoying the moment far too much, "will you do me the great honour of escorting me on a walk?"

My mind stopped. My body stopped. Heck, even the world stopped at that moment.

"A... a walk?" I sputtered, furious at him for making me such a wreck. It wasn't healthy when someone could get into your head like that – it simple wasn't.

"Yes, darling," he said, and got up. I tried staring him down even though I was like one and a half head shorter.

"I'm not in the mood for a walk," I grumbled, pushing my way past him (Not that he was taking up that much space – I just felt the need to harm him in some way).

"Hayley," he sighed, grapping my forearm and swinging me back towards him.

I locked my jaw and stared up at him, only to realise that he looked... troubled. Something was bothering him and I instantly felt myself warming up towards him again.

But only a teeny-tiny bit.

"Tomorrow," I said, giving in to him. "We'll take a walk tomorrow."

He shot me grin. "It's a date."

Turning on his heel, he walked out of the room.

"It's _not _a date!" I called after him, but I knew he'd ignore me.

You could call it what you wanted, but no matter what, I was less than 24 hours away from getting answers to my questions about his past. It didn't stop the uneasy turns of my stomach, though.

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**Songs used: "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show**

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**A/N: Hellooo! And merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all o****f you, lovely people.**

**First off; I thank you all for the great 'welcome back'. You are the most wonderful readers any kind of writer could wish for! :D**

**Second; I want to thank all reviewers, who I still believe is far too kind on my writing, and all who've either faved or alerted this story. You guys, keep me motivated ;)**

**I think _I_'ll go snuggle up under the covers of my bed with a bowl of popcorn and watch a good movie now ;) See ya next time (Chapter 23 is going to be some kind of a milestone in this story and it's going to be really fluffy, I fear... hope you won't mind it too much :P)**

**-Marie**


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